It hurts to miss an unmarked shot in basketball. And it certainly seemed to pain the Alvark Tokyo shooter, halfway through April’s Japanese league game against Shimane Susanoo Magic. As the ball bounded off the rim, the player wheeled away, head lowered, eyes downcast. The disappointment looked glaringly real.
Which is interesting, because it was not. The player could not have cared less. They literally could not care at all, and not just because this was a half-time exhibition. It was because they were a robot, created by Alvark Tokyo’s team sponsor, Toyota.
