Insider Reveals Why Japanese Lakers Forward Didn’t Start Right Away

Getty D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to Rui Hachimura #28 in the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings.

The little details cost Rui Hachimura a starting spot for the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of the season despite his breakout performance in last season’s playoffs, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported on March 22.

“Over the summer, Hachimura, at the behest of the coaching staff, had visibly slimmed down to prepare for more wing minutes.

But once Hachimura arrived in training camp, he didn’t embrace the role-player duties the coaching staff wanted from him — being fully engaged defensively, boxing out hard, making the extra pass,” Buha wrote.

Veteran Taurean Prince earned the job over Hachimura, not only because of his ties with Lakers coach Darvin Ham, which dates back to their two seasons in Atlanta (2016-2018), but “with his professionalism and consistency.”

Injuries also derailed Hachimura’s inevitable promotion to the starting lineup. But once he did after the Lakers’ slow start with Prince as a starter, Hachimura fit like a glove.

Rui Hachimura Made Lakers Starting 5 Better

In 27 games as a starter for the Lakers this season, Hachimura averaged 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 57.7% overall and 42.5% from the 3-point range.

It was not just his individual starts that soared. But he made the Lakers more formidable.

The Lakers are 17-10 with Hachimura as a starter.

In contrast, the Lakers were only 14-15 with the Japanese forward coming off the bench. His numbers — 11.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists on 47.5% field goal shooting and 39.8% 3-point shooting — also pale in comparison when he starts.

The Lakers are also plus-7.1 with their new starting lineup which features Hachimura at small forward next to to LeBron James and Anthony Davis with D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves at the backcourt, per Cleaning The Glass.

In contrast, the starting five with Prince instead of Hachimura, is minus-0.6, per Cleaning The Glass.

“I’ve been telling them this is who we are,” Hachimura told reporters on February 14 after dropping a career-high 36 points against the Utah Jazz with LeBron James resting. “We’ve been trying a lot of different things — lineups and all that stuff — but this is the lineup we had in the playoffs and that’s how we won, so it’s simple. We just got to keep building the chemistry for the playoffs. It’s just that we know, we’re just really comfortable playing each other.”

LeBron James Not Focused on Playoff Seedings

The Lakers (38-32) gained a 1.5-game separation from the 10th-place Golden State Warriors (36-33) following their 101-94 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on March 22.

Lakers superstar LeBron James said their top priority is stacking up wins.

“At the end of the day, we’re not really focused on seeding,” James told reporters after the win. “We’re just focused on what we can control. We can’t control the seedings if other teams are playing too well still. What you can control is go out and play and try to win as many games as you can and see where you land.”

While James described their latest win as “ugly,” he was encouraged by their defense.

“Ugly, but we got the job done,” James said. “We defended (well) in the second half. They only had 18 (points) in the fourth. That’s big-time when the offense was struggling like it was. … We turned the ball over way too much and gave up too easy baskets, but when we got in the half-court, we buckled down and made them take tough shots.”