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I have been disappointed by the Los Angeles Lakers hundreds of times. But it never happened like it did this weekend.
After a hard week at CES, there was nothing more appealing to me than the opportunity to watch hours of Lakers games in the Apple Vision Pro when I got home.
Look, I live in New York, so my best chance to catch the latest Spectrum front row at the Apple immersive experience — which effectively puts you at the scorer’s table — is to watch a replay a few days after the live broadcast.
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Right now, this is the best, closest thing to sitting in a VIP row at an NBA game without spending $10,000 (and literally flying to Los Angeles). For Apple, this may be the most premium feature it can offer users who have invested in the $3,500 Vision Pro.
So, what’s it like to experience NBA action from previously untapped dimensions? Everything a fan could imagine – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Preparing for broadcast
Loading into the immersive experience was quite simple. If you’re located in Spectrum’s regional broadcast area, such as Hawaii, Southern California, or parts of Southern Nevada, you can watch select Lakers games live through the dedicated Spectrum SportsNet app. If you live outside those areas, you can watch replays through the official NBA app, which requires a free ID to access.
I watched the game with the M5 Vision Pro, which comes equipped with a dual-knit band for superior comfort and fit. Compared to the original Vision Pro headband, the dual-knit variant reduces the “front-heaviness” of the headset, with tungsten inserts within the rear fabric that act as a counterbalance.
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With a little adjustment and raising the Vision Pro to proper eye level, I finally found the best position for hours-long broadcasts.
tip off
A simulated view of courtside seating at an NBA game. You can turn your head 180 degrees to see both sides of the court.
Apple/Spectrum/NBA
While Spectrum Front Row simulates the experience of sitting courtside, it is also a fully produced broadcast, including dedicated commentators, an announcer on the floor and multiple camera angles so you don’t miss any of the action. For the Lakers-Bucks game, and I think this will be the case for future immersive NBA games, it was a thoughtful sequence of camera angles from behind the backboard, the view of center court, and commentary during time-outs.
Unlike Apple’s previous immersive sports content, such as 2023 mls cup highlightsI found the pace of the three main camera changes in NBA broadcasts very easy to follow and understand. By the second quarter, I would be mentally prepared to shift from center court to behind the backboard whenever something was happening in the paint or a shooting foul was suspected.
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Then there was what I would call the “magic” of immersive sports streams – the subtle moments of camaraderie and unity that you either miss on a traditional broadcast or simply never see. In the case of this weekend’s Lakers game, it was hearing the bench players helping call plays and cheering on teammates, and watching Jaxson Hayes give Jared Vanderbilt a pat after his valiant effort on the glass. It was in those moments that my eyes sparkled the most.
Now, if only Apple (or Spectrum) gave us the option to turn off the commentary so you could only hear the court and stadium sounds, like how you would in a live game. Isn’t that the whole point of it?
What’s missing (for now)
Compared to traditional sports broadcasting, I mainly missed the social side of things. Typically, I track games through the lens of social media – scrolling through hot takes and commentary from beat reporters, analysts and other fans as the action unfolds. Integrating a similar information feed into the immersive player would have made the experience much more complete. Who doesn’t want to see how others react when Luka Doncic makes a full-court pass to LeBron?
There may also be a future where sports betting will be woven more into such video streams.
The backboard camera angle will show you how much (or little) effort the big players are putting in to get the rebound.
Apple/Spectrum/NBA
If I had to pick something, there would be moments during the stream when a player had the ball in the corner. From the center court angle, you simply can’t see anything, and it has nothing to do with resolution or lack of bandwidth. I blame the physics of the 180-degree camera for this.
I also couldn’t get into the habit of staring that far to see the score and the clock, because that information is usually shown on TV without requiring me to tilt my head. All I could do was pray that the Lakers were winning.
Takeaway after the game
I’ve always believed that the Apple Vision Pro, like many immersive headsets that came before it, is primarily a content consumption device. With live sports viewing, the potential of such technology is felt more than ever, and I’m excited to see how things evolve over the years – even if it means watching your favorite team fumble a game-winning play in front of your eyes.
