Rui Hachimura has sky-high self-expectations for himself on a championship contender Los Angeles Lakers squad. He and his teammates spent the second half of the 2022-23 season exceeding expectations.
Last season, when all-time great LeBron James went down with a foot injury in late February, the Lakers nestled in the Western Conference basement in 12th place with a 29-32 record. Anthony Davis carried his team to a 8-5 record in James' absence. With LeBron, aka King James, returning, the Lakers became the best in the West after the All-Star Weekend with a 16-7 record.
What happened next?
The Lakers completed the regular season with a 43-39 record and reached the Western Conference finals, but were swept by the eventual champions, the Denver Nuggets.
After the defeat and a subsequent long off-season, Hachimura spoke about his team's championship mindset.
"This team, we have a championship [outlook], we have bigger goals, so the motivation is different," he said on Day 3 of preseason training camp in early October. (Watch footage of Hachimura's interview, starting at the 4:46 mark after Lakers coach Darvin Ham's on this video on YouTube.)
Later in the interview session with reporters, Hachimura pointed out, "Everybody wants to win here, so it's good energy, good vibes."
Not only is the bar set high, having brushed shoulders with a championship team, the Lakers aim to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy, once again.
Los Angeles opens its season on the road on Tuesday night, October 24 (8:30 AM JST on Wednesday) against the reigning champion Nuggets.
Bonding with Teammates in the Offseason
This past summer, Hachimura worked out with The King, being the Daniel-san to his Mr Miyagi. The bond and comfort James, Davis and Hachimura share was evident in the casual free-throw competition they shared.
In the offseason, Los Angeles added Christian Wood to last year's core, along with Jaxson Hayes and Gabe Vincent. Players like Vincent, who embodies the underdog Miami Heat culture mentality, will contribute to the maintenance of the Lakers' high bar.
Hachimura will have more help and he professed this at the start of training camp: "Starting or not, I think I'm OK [but] …. I want to finish the game, that's my main goal."
Professing this self-expectation publicly signaled his professional growth, not only welcoming but embracing the pressure to thrive when the game matters most.
Hachimura's Offensive Expectations Based on His Playoff Performance
Hachimura's high self-expectations come from his past season's playoff performance. After shooting a splendid 52% from downtown against the Memphis Grizzlies (1.8 made 3s out of 3.5 attempts per game) in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, he continued to shoot extremely well against the Golden State Warriors, shooting 57% on 1.5 attempts per game. He shot 49% from 3-point range in the 2023 playoffs.
In the preseason, Hachimura shot 33% (5-for-15) from downtown in six games. He has reminded the media that he's had a 3-point shot since his Washington days. His own belief in his long-distance shooting ability, as well as his teammates', vindicates initial scouting reports about his "line-drive" shots and his limited range.
Hachimura will continue to play a pivotal role in connecting on James' drive-and-kick passes. His shooting will also help him attack the rim more easily, which he has stressed is a goal of his. He spoke to the media about spending the off-season focusing on his footwork with Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy to actualize this.
Increased Defensive Expectations for Hachimura
On Media Day, Hachimura mentioned how he's gotten stronger in the off-season by hitting the gym.
Much like his 3-point shooting, his defensive expectations are also sky high. He’s now had the experience of having guarded the NBA's premier players in high-stake scenarios. He guarded Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl Anthony-Towns in the play-in tournament for 3 minutes 16 seconds, and defended Nuggets superstar and two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in the playoffs.
"Rui is playing really nice for them off the bench," said Jokic after the Nuggets grabbed a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals on May 18. Although Jokic averaged 27.8 points against the Lakers, Hachimura was effective at times in slowing him down.
Questions Remain About Hachimura
Injuries are a part of the game. When James was sidelined, Davis stepped up. But questions remain what will happen to the Lakers if either superstar, or both, are injured.
Hachimura has also had a history of injuries in past seasons along with requested personal time off (to open the 2021-22 season while with the Wizards, he missed the first 39 games). He has played 48, 57, 42 and 63 games in his first four NBA seasons. That means he would not meet the 65-game criteria to qualify for receiving any NBA award. Added all up, Hachimura has only played in 210 of 308 regular-season games in that span.
Having now proven himself, this season will be the first time Hachimura will actually face expectations based on his past performance. How he will deal with those external and internal expectations remain to be seen.
One viewpoint is that Hachimura has taken measures to improve his mental health by relying on his inner circle and cutting out distractions.
Zac Ikuma, a former Japanese reporter for the Washington Wizards who provided in-depth coverage of Hachimura's career when he played for the NBA team, weighed in.
"If he had done anything to help himself, it was probably to further tighten his circle of friends, people he hung out with, and shut out the noise," said Ikuma, who was recently appointed general manager of the B.League's Tokushima Gambarous, a new third-division team. "He probably just got to a better place by really taking time off and just fully resetting mentally."
A Fan Favorite in Japan
Japanese fans crashed NBA Rakuten's streaming service before Hachimura's Lakers debut in January 2023. A huge spike in users of the online site caused the server to malfunction about 10 minutes before the Lakers game against the San Antonio Spurs, Rakuten explained later.
As a result, Rakuten aired the game on its YouTube channel before the streaming service was working again.
On the heels of Team Japan qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and fellow countryman Yuta Watanabe being a newcomer on another championship contender (the Phoenix Suns), these are exciting times for Japanese NBA fans.
The Lakers have been Japan's favorite NBA team based on 2022 jersey sales, and Hachimura can bring Japanese fandom even closer to the Purple and Gold.
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Author: Terukazu Ikeda
Ikeda is a Toronto-based freelance writer who has contributed reporting to Raptors Republic, The Canadian (quarterly publication of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan), and other media outlets.
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