LOS ANGELES – Rui Hachimura will head into his seventh NBA season aiming to use an improved three-point stroke to help the Los Angeles Lakers win a title, the Japan national basketball team star said Monday.
“I want to work hard and play my part in the team winning the championship,” Hachimura said at the Lakers’ media day.
While Hachimura was the team’s most reliable outside shooter last season with a 41.3 percent average, the 27-year-old forward worked on developing a quicker release on his shot during the offseason.
“I focused on being able to shoot quickly, even in more difficult situations,” he said. “In the NBA, split-second decisions are important.”
Hachimura said the team had improved its chemistry after a full offseason with star playmaker Luka Doncic, whose arrival midway through the 2024-25 campaign signaled the Lakers’ intentions of competing for a championship as quickly as possible.
“We’ve been hanging out, we’ve been working out together as a team,” Hachimura said. “I think our chemistry has been great, (we’ve) just got to keep building it.”
Although he has yet to sign a contract extension going into the final year of his three-year deal, Hachimura said “the business side” was not a distraction from his goals on the court.
“I can’t really do anything about it,” he said. “I’ve just got to play my game and do whatever I need to do to help this team win.”
The two-time Olympian said that included taking more responsibility in games when Doncic and 40-year-old superstar LeBron James are unable to shoulder the offensive burden.
“This is LeBron’s 23rd year, so he’s not going to be able to do it the whole time, so when it happens, I have to be the guy to step up,” Hachimura said.
The Toyama Prefecture native said working with middle and high school basketball players in Japan over the summer had lifted his spirit and provided extra motivation to succeed in the NBA.
“I want to become a player who can have a big influence on kids,” he said. “It made me want to work even harder.”