When Amazon Prime Video became an exclusive partner with the NFL in 2022 — the first time a streaming service received a full, exclusive package of NFL games — the buzzword in the sports media industry was “proof of concept.” Though Amazon had worked with NFL Network and Fox on “Thursday Night Football” starting in 2017, one of the biggest questions the streamer faced when it started its 11-year run as the exclusive broadcaster of TNF was whether it could handle the audience load. Would the streaming hold up? Would the product look and feel like an NFL broadcast? You can disagree on the choice of broadcasters, graphics, music — these are all subjective things. But what is not subjective is accessibility.

Amazon Prime Video’s NFL debut in September 2022 — an exciting 27-24 win for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Los Angeles Chargers — was a mix of beautiful images and mild anger over tech issues that dissipated very quickly through the opening weeks of the season. Sure, the broadcasters might have pushed hard to sell the audience the 20-year-old Mazda regarding the schedule, but the company passed the proof-of-concept test. My former colleague Bill Shea captured that opening broadcast, and today we don’t see discussions about buffering or tech issues about Amazon’s NFL presentation. Latency can be problematic for live sports if the stream is more than a few seconds behind the real-time action, but Amazon has been very good here.

This was all front of mind Friday as Netflix aired multiple hours of pro boxing from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Jake Paul and Mike Tyson were the headline act, and it was not a great moment for sporting excellence. The Paul-Tyson bout was horrible, and so was the streaming experience for many viewers. As my colleague Tess DeMeyer chronicled, viewers were plagued by frequent bouts of buffering and freezing. There were technical issues in the broadcast, with Evander Holyfield’s earpiece and Jerry Jones’ microphone malfunctioning during separate interviews. (As wryly noted on X by Fox Sports president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill, there was great irony in Jones’ praising Netflix’s future with the NFL as viewers experienced tech issues.)

Streaming issues of course vary depending on multiple factors, including internet connectivity. But there were loads of viewers who experienced problems Friday night, including The Athletic’s own media writer, Andrew Marchand, who updated his followers on Bluesky on the error message he was receiving.

Netflix has over 280 million subscribers in more than 190 countries including Canada, where I watched from Friday night. I struggled to get access to the streamer for a couple of minutes before the sensational Amanda Serrano-Katie Taylor bout (Serrano was robbed, it says here) and had moments of buffering throughout; I was clean for the whole Tyson-Paul event. Social media was lit with complaints. (The website Down Detector noted nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to the fight, per the CBC.) It’s the worst kind of publicity for Netflix, which declined to comment. An NFL spokesperson had not responded as of publication.

This isn’t the first live sports rodeo for Netflix. It aired an F1-golf crossover event last November and a tennis match between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal in March. Those were successful. What was a disaster was the live reunion in April 2023 to the conclusion of the fourth season of the reality dating show “Love Is Blind,” when users were unable to access the stream. Netflix issued an apology to viewers and an apology during an earnings call.

But the big one for Netflix is coming Christmas Day, given it landed exclusive rights to stream two NFL games — the Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens versus the Houston Texans. The three-season deal also includes a game on Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026. The game production will not be an issue as CBS is handling that, and the NFL Network is charged with pregame, halftime and postgame coverage. Neither of those entities has a role in transmission and streaming; that’s on Netflix, and it’s under six weeks until kickoff.

The Tyson-Paul fight was ultimately sports entertainment. Even Netflix’s recent deal with WWE — paying more than $5 billion for exclusive rights to the long-running “Raw” franchise, along with other rights outside the U.S. — could be tagged as sports-adjacent given WWE falls under sports entertainment. But the NFL matters to those that fuel weekly sports consumption in North America, and these matchups would easily draw more than 25-plus million on a traditional outlet in the United States. The NFL desperately wants Netflix to work as a partner because Netflix represents a multiple-decade ATM for it. Netflix needs it to work because it sees advertising as part of its long-term ambition for sustainable earning sources, and live sports can be a driver there. The NFL has an international slate of games it can easily turn into a future media rights package, and you know it wants Netflix at the table for that. Netflix executives announced this week they had sold out of advertising inventory for the games. It’s a big deal in the sports business world.

The NFL wants to put on a show far more entertaining than Tyson-Paul, and you can be sure Friday night spooked league officials a bit. Given the trajectory of the four teams playing Christmas Day, the games are shaping up to be of serious consequence for playoff seeding. There is money and reputation at stake, and you don’t get a second chance at a first impression. Both entities will be crushed by NFL fans if Christmas brings buffering and dropped streams.

(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)

They returned home from a three-game trip in a mini slump that left the Clippers seeking ways to break free of that malaise in which they lost all of those games.

They had left their home in Inglewood on a four-game winning streak, the Clippers feeling good with how they were playing.

But they lost their mojo and wanted to get it back.

They did Sunday night, the Clippers defeating the Utah Jazz 116-105 at Intuit Dome, and in the process they saw James Harden reach a career milestone.

With six minutes and nine seconds left in the first quarter, Harden drilled a three-pointer to break a tie with Ray Allen for the second-most in NBA history. Harden now has made 2,975 three-pointers over his 16-year career. He’s behind the leader, Golden State’s Stephen Curry (3,782), who will be in town Monday night with the Warriors to face the Clippers.

Harden finished with 20 points, going two-for-eight from three-point range, to go along with 11 assists.

The Clippers also got a lift from the return of center Mo Bamba, who had missed the first 13 games recovering from a left knee injury. Bamba was solid in his return, scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds in 15 minutes.

Ivica Zubac had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Norman Powell had 19 points.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue had mostly wanted his team to stay the course while in their funk, but he also wanted his group to clean up some things.

Lue wanted a better effort on the backboards, which the Clippers did by collecting 41 rebounds to match Utah’s total.

Lue wanted his team to take care of the basketball, which they did by turning the ball over just nine times.

It all led to the Clippers opening a 23-point lead and coasting in from there over a Jazz team with the worst record (3-10) in the Western Conference.

The Clippers did see their lead sliced to seven points with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter after Jordan Clarkson made a three-pointer, but they held on for the win.

Giannis Antetokounmpo should stay in Milwaukee.

Making that clear up front. This is not a longtime Warriors writer once again pondering a future with the Greek Freak as the new pillar of Golden State, one of the NBA’s it brands. I’ll leave that to Warriors owner Joe Lacob.

And maybe Stephen Curry.

And maybe Giannis.

OK, seriously. Antetokounmpo belongs in Milwaukee, to Milwaukee. The sappy side of sports, the romantic 30,000-foot view demands him staying with the Bucks, where he became a legend. The Chick-Fil-A where he ordered a 50-piece chicken nuggets should become a state landmark.

Mushy moments, however, are about past accolades. The Bucks, featuring the all-time great in his prime, rightfully want more than the 2021 Larry O’Brien Trophy they earned. But what’s emanating from their current on-court play suggests a pending impasse.

The big swing Milwaukee took just last season to get a superstar, trading Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard, is being revealed as a miss — at least in the sense of its championship aspirations. Like a giant puzzle that hasn’t finished forming, we can see enough to imagine the end picture.

Of course, being wrong is possible. The Bucks could turn this around. While they sit at the bottom, they’ve played the best in the Eastern Conference close enough to warrant optimism.

But, frankly, my deer, this feels like a problem Khris Middleton’s return can’t fix.

The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers look like juggernauts comparatively, and the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks are threats in the East despite their mediocre starts. And Bucks fans would be wise not to look West right now. It’s scary out that way.

The Bucks are 2-8 through their first 10 games, disappointing enough to trigger the discourse about what they should do. And while nothing from Giannis suggests he wants out — and his new three-year, $175 million extension kicks in next year — he’s the mega figure the rest of the league is watching. The player who can shift the dynamic of the league. Naturally, people will be interested in whether a fourth consecutive season not making it past the second round prompts big changes in Milwaukee.

All of this points to a possible moment of truth for the Bucks, and Antetokounmpo, for which we wait to see how the league’s new climate and culture impact their decision. The NBA’s pursuit of parity altered the landscape of team-building. So it’s only reasonable for it to also alter the mindset of how married front offices are to their superstars.

How he and the Bucks respond could be informative. Turning 30 next month, he’s the oldest of the young superstars. He’s also the one who seems among the furthest from a championship.

Giannis should stay in Milwaukee.

The same questions figure to eventually arrive about Luka Dončić or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jayson Tatum. Or Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Or Utah Prep’s A.J. Dybantsa.

The collective bargaining agreement doesn’t have protections for drafting well, which means teams that do are counting down to when they have to pay. Welcome to Sam Presti’s life. It seems executives, players and fans should be emotionally prepared for stars to be sacrificed in the name of the CBA.

Obviously, it all depends on the situation. The stars’ accomplishments. The ownership’s financial capacity. The roster’s flexibility.

The obvious answer is for the Bucks to retool around Antetokounmpo. With the increased longevity of superstars, and the way he takes care of himself, he should have at least five to six years of eliteness in him. Maybe more.

But it’s also easier than ever, figuratively, to move on and still turn out just fine. Parity’s impact makes it more feasible, figuratively, for teams to retool quickly. With no impossible juggernaut sitting atop the league — the closest one is Boston, which is facing a similar pending money crunch — the climb to the top is shorter. The punishment for having three maximum salaries increases the possibility of star-caliber players being available or coming to market.

Hard-line stances are easier for teams to take these days. Jimmy Butler does not have a max extension in Miami despite being the face of the franchise. Paul George is in Philadelphia, and his former team doesn’t look worse long-term as a result.

The salary explosion surely makes ownership take a longer, harder look. Is that No. 2 star really worth $40 million? Is the No. 1 really worth $60 million?

Those figures won’t look quite as massive when the new television deal raises the salary cap. But the sticker shock will still be present for the check-signers.

At some point, having such an albatross figure eating up so much of the salary cap makes maneuvering tough. The Jazz considered moving on from Lauri Markkanen before locking him for $48 million a year over the next four. The Suns will have three players making over $50 million next season, putting some real championship pressure on Phoenix right now as the penalties for crossing the second apron loom.

This climate wouldn’t figure to make loyalty as appealing. Lillard is a cautionary tale of being loyal to a fault. He spent years of his prime on a Portland Trail Blazers squad that didn’t have a real chance at a title. Could he have a title if he was in Miami in 2023 when it faced the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals? We’ll never know because he was still ride-or-die for Portland.

Market size is less relevant in the modern media climate. The salary suppression of the new CBA makes staying home less profitable. The league has intentionally increased the number of teams on the cusp of being serious. It’s a concoction sure to fertilize other grasses.

How long before Joel Embiid wants a fresh start? How long will Ja Morant settle for being second fiddle with the grit and grind if the Grizzlies don’t build a winner around him?

Taking away the sentimentality, and keeping it strictly basketball maneuvering — is it better for the Bucks to send their pillar to Oklahoma City, which by far and away could offer the biggest bounty of any team? No one could blame Antetokounmpo for wanting that.

Because what’s also true about the age of parity is the ease of falling behind. Hopes for a ‘ship can sail away as quickly as they dock when the league can rearrange so fluidly. The right role player can lift a team into the mix, let alone an All-Star. How many teams could change their odds by adding Butler?

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Conversely, a team that looked on the come-up can suddenly seem far away. It was but two years ago Sacramento and Memphis looked to be the future.

It is early, but it looks as if Milwaukee is drifting behind. It’s always risky to make conclusions when Halloween candy yet remains (albeit the candy corn no one actually likes). Especially for a team missing a player as good as Middleton. But seasons have vibes. Tones are set. Patterns start developing. Antetokounmpo has already called out the team’s effort.

One of the tells of chemistry and cohesion is fourth-quarter production. And late in games, Milwaukee has looked like it’s staying together until the kids graduate high school.

Entering Monday, the Bucks were 25th in fourth-quarter scoring (26.2) and second-to-last in fourth-quarter offensive rating (105.6). Milwaukee has the fourth-worst offensive efficiency in the clutch, averaging just 89.3 points per 100 per possessions of clutch time. Only the Chicago Bulls, Knicks and Thunder were worse — and Oklahoma City was so low because it’s usually chilling in fourth quarters.

If the conclusion is Dame and Giannis aren’t the takeover-the-league duo we thought they’d be, I was certain they’d be, what is the Bucks’ next move?

Giannis should stay in Milwaukee.

Because the inverse is also true. If it’s easier to rebuild in a league that frowns on hoarding superstars, it figures to be even easier with an anchor in place. The hardest piece to get is the biggest one.

What’s more, we’ve seen this place where the NBA could be headed. All markets being in play now, with the superstars spread more evenly across the league, the player movement could turn up. A Game of Thronesian shifting of power.

While that for sure adds an element of excitement, the league constantly reforming its contender class, jerseys expiring faster than whole milk, sentimentality takes on its own value. Having a franchise pillar becomes more meaningful.

And since this is a business, still fueled by the magnetism of superstars, something will always be special about the players who ride it out with one home.

Sure, they might miss out on all-time great conversations, their trophy collections limited by their team’s resources and front-office acumen. But they are among the most adored, most respected.

Giannis should stay in Milwaukee.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)