Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura took the court early Saturday morning for his first group stage game at the 2024 Olympics. His Japan national team faced Germany — one of the tournament’s best teams — and suffered a 97-77 loss to begin Olympic play. However, Hachimura led the way for his team in the loss.
Hachimura finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks. Germany forced the Lakers forward to take some tough shots with their staunch defense, leading him to a 4-for-19 performance from the field and 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Germany is led by former Laker Dennis Schroder alongside Franz and Mo Wagner, Daniel Theis and Isaac Bonga. They are the fifth favorite for the gold medal, behind the United States, Canada, France and Serbia. Defensively, they got Hachimura to settle for isolation jumpers, which has not been a strength of his game in the NBA.
Hachimura got to the line 12 times though, converting on 10 of his attempts. In FIBA play, drawing fouls is a considerably harder task, meaning that he did a great job of getting to the rim and drawing legitimate contact as opposed to the foul-baiting that NBA players are often accused of.
His 20 points led the way for Japan, followed by 16 points from Yuta Watanabe. Hachimura’s 10 rebounds was second only to Josh Hawkinson. The game leader in points was Franz Wagner with 22 for Germany, while Hawkinson’s 11 was the game leader for rebounds and Schroder’s 12 assists led the game. Hachimura was the block leader as well with two.
Japan will face France and Brazil in the next two group stage games. They face France at 10:15 a.m. PT on Tuesday, July 30 and go head-to-head with Brazil on Friday, Aug. 2 at 2 a.m. PT. Eight of the 12 teams in the tournament move ahead to the knockout rounds, meaning the top two in each group plus two more wild card finishers.
Lakers’ Pau Gasol takes part in 2024 Olympics torch ceremony
Former Lakers big man Pau Gasol has always been highly regarded as not only an all-time great on the court, but an outstanding human being off of it. Gasol has always been extremely proud of his Spanish heritage and has represented his country at numerous different events.
And even though he isn’t participating in the 2024 Olympic games, Gasol was still able to represent Spain with this prestigious honor.
Gasol took to social media to show a video of him at the Athlete’s Village in France with the Olympic torch, another amazing and memorable moment for the Hall of Famer.
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