Amazon Prime broadcast experiences interruption during overtime of Heat-Hornets play-in matchup.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Amazon Prime Video broadcast of the Miami-Charlotte play-in game experienced an outage lasting nearly two minutes during the overtime phase, resulting in fans missing a possession by the Hornets.
Stan Van Gundy, serving as an analyst for Prime Video, was in the midst of a commentary when the audio feed was interrupted following a timeout with 48.1 seconds left. Shortly thereafter, a message indicating “technical difficulties” appeared on screens.
Upon the restoration of video and audio, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball had already scored, giving the team a 125-120 advantage. Viewers missed 22.1 seconds of game action.
“Tell me the game didn’t just cut off?!!? Am I trippin?? WTH,” posted Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on X, as the phrase “technical difficulties” began to trend nationally on social media.
Charlotte ultimately secured a 127-126 victory. Prime Video did not provide an immediate clarification regarding the cause of the streaming issue, and it remains uncertain whether all viewers experienced the disruption.
Prime Video holds exclusive rights to all six games in this year’s play-in tournament. The streaming platform commenced broadcasting NBA games this season as part of the league’s new 11-year, $76 billion media rights agreement.
