Rui Hachimura fans furious at Lakers ‘spoiled’ debut as major NBA streaming network Rakuten ‘hangs’ in Japan

RUI Hachimura’s debut at the Los Angeles Lakers was marred by the crash of streaming platform Rakuten, which broadcasts NBA games in Japan.

Hachimura, 24, became the first Japanese-born player in Lakers history after coming off the bench in Wednesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Lakers acquired Hachimura in a trade from the Washington Wizards earlier this week.

LA sent Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks to bring back the former lottery pick.

The forward missed the Lakers loss to the LA Clippers on Tuesday.

But he made his debut for the Purple and Gold the following day, registering with four minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter of the game against Spurs.

But during the game, NBA fans from Japan took to Twitter to complain about not being able to watch Hachimura in-game due to NBA Rakuten crashing.

One wrote: “The only way to watch NBA in Japan is through NBA Rakuten and with Rui Hachimura’s first game between Lakers and Spurs the site crashed… so maybe none way to catch the match live here in Japan at that time.”

Another tweeted: “NBA Rakuten app crashed in Japan due to Rui Hachimura’s debut for the Lakers.”

And a third said: “There are a lot of matches to come but there were a lot of fans who really wanted to see Rui hit the floor for the first time wearing purple and gold. No clear explanation from Rakuten So far very disappointing.”

Lakers reporter Mike Trudell confirmed the news during the game.

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