High-ceilinged combo forward Rui Hachimura has helped Los Angeles Lakers utterly rejuvenate the team after Darvin Ham placed him into starting five .
In other words, LA has emerged victorious in five of those six matches (and six of its previous seven overall), including three in a row. The 6’8″ Gonzaga product is averaging 15 points on astonishingly high efficiency (64% from the floor and 41% from long) in those six starts, looking like his 2023 playoff self.
After all, he has earned the confidence of LA’s front staff enough to sign a three-year, $51 million contract, so why hasn’t he been starting the entire season? It appears that Hachimura has been pondering the same subject.
Hachimura takes a subtle jab at Darvin Ham
Hachimura seemed to poke fun at his head coach’s strange lineup changes this season in remarks made to the assembled media following the game (via Michael Corvo of ClutchPoints). However, Ham eventually settled on one of his most-used playoff lineups, which included Hachimura in the frontcourt with All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and guards D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves in the backcourt.
“I’ve been telling ’em, like, this is who we are,” Hachimura said. “We’ve been trying like a lot of different things, lineups, all this stuff. But this is the lineup we had in the playoffs, and that’s how we won. So, you know, it’s that simple.”
“When I get into the game I want to impact the game… I want to be the X-Factor… be aggressive, use my size, whatever it takes to help us win.” pic.twitter.com/m033npmzhq
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 15, 2024
“We all have a chemistry, [that] starting lineup,” Hachimura added.
This season, Hachimura is actually leading LA in raw plus-minus. Hachimura is averaging 11.4 points on a.506/.377/.724 shooting split, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game over his 41 healthy games.
