Nexus Player remote going to sleep randomly and frequently, responding slowly thanks to faulty Play Services update

Not a dull moment passes by in the land of Google product issues. Not long after Google Assistant functionality was added to the Nexus Player, Google's digital media player has begun to put its remote to sleep. Many people are complaining about the problem on Google's Issue Tracker, and the culprit has been revealed to be a Play Services update. It's similar to an issue NVIDIA fixed with SHIELD Experience 6.1 on the SHIELD Android TV.
Read more: http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/11/30/nexus-player-remote-going-sleep-randomly-frequently-responding-slowly-thanks-faulty-play-services-update/?source=Snapzu