Rui Hachimura has been a vital part to the Los Angeles Lakers’ success, filling in as a reliable scorer either as a starter or off the bench.
Hachimura started the 2025-26 season as a starter, but really hit his stride once he was moved to the bench in favor of Marcus Smart. With the starting and bench lineups more balanced, it allowed players like Hachimura to thrive and settle into their roles.
Aside from the lineup adjustments, Hachimura also pointed to the team’s chemistry on and off the floor as a driving force behind their success.
“I think it was chemistry,” he said after the season finale. “I talked a lot about chemistry, and how important, especially in basketball, but in team sports, we all need each other. I think to get through this season, especially 82 games is really long, a lot of things happening, injuries, different lineups, trades, everything. So, I think that this year we had good chemistry to fight through 82 games.”
The Lakers are set to take on the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs and Hachimura noted he and the rest of the group have to continue playing their roles even with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out.
“Especially, with Luka [Dončić] and AR (Austin Reaves) out, it’s a different game a little bit,” Hachimura said. “But I think we understand our roles, each individual. We have different things than they do. But I think at the end of the day, we know what our goal is and I think we fought through these past three or four games, and then we got what we wanted. Yeah, we gotta keep rolling.”
Los Angeles doesn’t have any other choice but to rally around each other, especially against an opponent like Houston that presents several issues on paper. While the Rockets may have been the best matchup on paper, the Lakers will be at a disadvantage given what Doncic and Reaves mean to the group.
Hachimura previously said the purple and gold look like a championship contender when they play together, but that idea will be put the test when they host Game 1 this Saturday.
Rui Hachimura reached significant scoring milestone
Hachimura was one of the most reliable scoring options for the Lakers this past season, acting primarily as a spot-up shooter. While Hachimura had to pick his spots offensively, he still managed to reach 5,000 points for his career.
It’s a great accomplishment for Hachimura, who has adapted well to all the roles Los Angeles has asked him to play.
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