It’s easy to miss what Rui Hachimura is doing for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2025-26 season as he’s been a key figure in almost all of their wins thus far.
While Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been generating most of the headlines, Hachimura has quietly been a steady force on both ends of the floor. As an expiring contract, the Japanese forward was normally thrown into the trade machine this past offseason but has started to look more and more like a player the Lakers should look to keep long-term.
Hachimura has managed to hold down the fort in LeBron James’ absence, acting both as a release valve scorer and a stout defender on the other end.
Luka Doncic believes Hachimura is having an underrated season and praised him for helping L.A. win games, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“It helps us win games. A lot. But like I said… Maybe the Atlanta gams, he was very underrated. Nobody talks about him but he deserves a lot of credit in our wins. He’s been amazing for us and the way he plays like every game, it just helps us a lot, especially to win games.”
Marcus Smart echoed Doncic’s sentiments and gave Hachimura his props for playing hard on both ends:
“I’m proud of the Samurai. I’m proud of my guy. Rui’s been doing such a good job on the offensive end, to see him pick it up on the defensive end has been a fresh breath of air for everybody. We knew he could do it and he knows he could do it. And we’re glad to see him accepting that and using his ability to be able to play both ends, offensively and defensively.”
As one of the bigger forwards on the team, Hachimura’s positional size and versatility enable the Lakers to try different things on both sides of the ball. His improve 3-point shooting mixed with a better understanding of defensive rotations has made him almost indispensable.
It’ll be interesting to see if Hachimura’s done enough to cement his place as a starter when James returns, but he should have a large role in the rotation no matter what.
JJ Redick believes Rui Hachimura made two biggest players against Spurs
The Lakers picked up a quality victory over the San Antonio Spurs, largely thanks to Rui Hachimura who spent most of the game guarding Victor Wembanyama. JJ Redick credited Hachimura for making the two biggest plays in the win: a clutch 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and drawing Wembanyama’s sixth foul on a charge call.
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