June 16, 2019

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Sports June 16, 2019

Sports Analyst: NBA Reliance On Analytics Hurts Diversity Hiring

NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with ESPN analyst Jalen Rose about why he thinks advanced analytics is hindering diversity hiring in the NBA.



MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Let’s talk basketball for a minute. The men’s NBA season is officially over. The Toronto Raptors have won their first NBA championship. And now the big news in the men’s game is the upcoming draft and the big trades, like Anthony Davis heading to the Lakers. So we thought this might be a good time to explore how teams decide. And while there’s been a lot of talk these days about the growing power of agents and big-name players, increasingly, teams are using advanced analytics, really detailed performance data to determine whom to hire.

And Jalen Rose has some thoughts about that. Jalen Rose is a former college basketball star, a member of the University of Michigan’s Fab Five, a former NBA player. And he’s now a prominent sports analyst on multiple shows on ESPN and elsewhere. In a recent conversation with The New Yorker Magazine, Rose argued that the increased reliance on analytics over things like playing experience make it harder for former players, many of whom are minorities, to get high-level positions. I called him to ask him to tell me more.

JALEN ROSE: There became an amazing groundswell of opportunities that presented themselves in powerful positions, whether general manager, president and/or an entire department now that organizations are dedicating themselves to making sure they are on top of the analytics. And they’re able to decipher not only what you see, but obviously they’re able to detect it via the numbers.

So I understand, and I appreciate having all of the information. But at some point, there still has to be some level of logic, expertise. Your eye test has to be something that you’re able to trust along with your instincts to make that big final decision. I just always felt like analytics should be a tool – a wrench, a hammer – that’s a part of the tool box, not necessarily the end-all, be-all to a final decision. And it definitely should not be the sole reason why somebody is put into a powerful position.

MARTIN: In a way, I feel like you’re saying that, well, you’re saying a couple of things that people have seen in other fields. They feel that, say, algorithms are replacing human judgment. And it also – what I hear you saying is that this is a way to kind of keep the club the way it’s always been. Now that more African Americans are getting the experience to move into these front office positions, you have the feeling that perhaps this reliance on data is a way to kind of keep it as the club that it’s always been that has not been particularly diverse. Is that what you see?

ROSE: Well, I’m just really talking about the landscape as I see it and acknowledging how that did take place based on the dynamics you just described. It’s just that what ended up happening with those jobs and the dynamics of professional sports. If you look from the top down, there needs to be more diversity in the powerful positions.

And a lot of times, the numbers became a catalyst to say, here’s an opportunity. Oh, and by the way, since you know analytics, you get pushed to the front of the line. And if you look in the NBA and in many professional sports, there isn’t a lot of diversity amongst those who got their position based on the fact that they were really good at crunching the numbers and doing analytics.

MARTIN: So what kind of reaction are you getting?

ROSE: A lot of support. And the great thing about being open-minded and trying to always be fair, you hear it from all sides. And when people have a good point, you acknowledge it. And when you feel like what you’re saying and what you believe is what it’s going to be, then and you just own it.

MARTIN: That was ESPN analyst former, NBA player Jalen Rose. We’re talking about a piece that just posted in The New Yorker called “Jalen Rose Has A Problem With Basketball Analytics.” And we reached him in Oakland. Jalen Rose, thanks so much for talking to us.

ROSE: Thank you kindly. Have a great day.

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Business June 16, 2019

Boeing CEO Admits Mistake In 737 MAX Communication

Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg speaks during a press conference after the annual shareholders meeting in Chicago on April 29.

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Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg says the company should have been more transparent with regulators and the public when Boeing discovered a safety light was not operating as designed.

Muilenburg made the comments to reporters ahead of the Paris Air Show, Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe told NPR.

“We clearly fell short in the implementation of the AOA disagree alert and we clearly should have communicated better with our regulators and the airlines,” Johndroe said in an interview by phone from Paris.

Boeing’s 737 MAX plane has been grounded worldwide since the second of two crashes that together killed 346 people. In both the Lion Air flight in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019, pilots struggled to overcome a software program known as MCAS that drove the noses of the planes down. Now Boeing is working on a software update that will enable pilots to more easily control their aircraft.

The fatal crashes and the ongoing grounding of its fastest-selling plane have cast a shadow over Boeing’s appearance at the Paris Air Show, which runs June 17-23.

“The company’s presence and activities at the show will demonstrate its commitment to innovation, industry partnerships and safety,” Boeing announced.

Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have extended 737 MAX flight cancellations through early September. Previously, both airlines had planned to resume flights in August. American says about 115 flights will be canceled daily, and Southwest says about 100 flights will be removed from its daily schedule.

In his comments, Muilenburg referred to a safety feature connected to the sensors that feed into the MCAS software. The software would trigger when the plane was flying at an angle that might make a stall likely. Boeing designed a warning light to alert pilots when the two “angle of attack” sensors disagreed, which could mean MCAS would be triggered incorrectly.

The light was supposed to be standard on all versions of the MAX; however, in practice, it only worked on planes with other safety features that airlines bought for extra cost.

NPR’s Laurel Wamsley has reported that Boeing knew the AOA disagree alert malfunctioned before the Lion Air crash.

Muilenburg conceded that engineers learned in 2017 that the alert light did not work as intended, and he said he was “disappointed” Boeing did not work to make the information more public, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford told NPR his office is working with Boeing throughout the testing of the software enhancement.

“We have not set a date for the certification flight,” Lunsford wrote in an email.

Aviation expert Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group said Muilenburg’s comments appeared to reflect a change in tone.

“It’s been a tradeoff. Do you limit the short-term damage from liability cases, or do you focus instead on protecting the long-term brand equity of product and company, and they’ve been favoring the first option,” he said. “That to me is a big mistake which seems to be changing.”

Speaking from Paris, Aboulafia told NPR Muilenburg’s comments had captured attention of the air show attendees.

“Standing around in cocktail parties, I think that is something people are remarking on.”

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