Japanese fans miss Rui Hachimura’s eagerly-awaited Lakers debut as their NBA streaming service CRASHES during historic outing against San Antonio Spurs… which made him LA’s first EVER player from the Asian country after trade earlier this week
Rui Hachimura’s highly-anticipated debut for the LA Lakers was missed by his fans back home in Japan after the historic moment crashed their NBA streaming service.
Hachimura, 24, became the Lakers’ first ever Japanese player when he came off the bench against San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, having been traded from the Washington Wizards earlier this week.
It was a seismic occasion for the Asian country, so much so that the overwhelming number of viewers tuning in to watch it sent their NBA Rakuten streaming service into a frenzy.
Fans flocked to social media to express their frustrations with the loss of coverage, before Rakuten released a statement explaining why it had happened.
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Rui Hachimura’s historic debut for the Lakers was missed by his fans back home in Japan
Hachimura became the Lakers’ first ever Japanese player on Wednesday night
A spokesperson for the Japanese company, NBA’s official streaming partner in the country since 2017, told The US Sun: ‘Starting around 12:20 pm Japan Time on Thursday, January 26, the NBA Rakuten site became inaccessible when a sudden surge in user traffic caused a server issue,’ a Rakuten spokesperson told The U.S. Sun.
‘This was around the time that the San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers game tipped off.
‘In order to address our customers’ needs, we made the Spurs vs. Lakers game available to watch on the NBA Rakuten official YouTube channel and Rakuten TV until access to the NBA Rakuten site was restored.
‘The issue has been resolved, and NBA Rakuten is now operating as normal.’
While many Japanese fans missed it, Hachimura made an instant impact on his Lakers debut after coming off the bench to score 12 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
But fans back home missed it unfold after a surge in traffic crashed their streaming service
Hachimura made an instant impact for LA, scoring 12 points in the win over San Antonio Spurs
He also shot 57.1 per cent from the field to help his new team earn a 113-104 victory over San Antonio.
Earlier this week LA traded Kendrick Nunn and a handful of second round picks in order to sign the combo-forward, who spent three years with the Wizards after being drafted ninth by the team in 2019.
He made history as the first ever Japanese player to be selected in the first round of an NBA draft, before going on to earn a place in the All-Rookie Second Team in his debut season.
Hachimura averaged a total of 13 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting in 177 games for Washington.
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