Rui Hachimura is a pretty big deal in Japan. So are the Los Angeles Lakers. Put Hachimura in a Lakers uniform, and you get a widespread server crash.
Hachimura made his debut for the Lakers on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena, three days after being traded by the Washington Wizards. In 22 minutes, Hachimura scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and added six rebounds. The Lakers comfortably defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 113-104, with Hachimura helping to ignite a key second-half run.
“I loved the energy out there,” Hachimura said. “Of course, (LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook) can score, but they can also pass the ball. They can make things look easy for their teammates … Playing with those guys, it’s amazing … I think I can have easy looks because they’re gonna have a lot of defenders on them. So I think it’s gonna be great.”
Hachimura displayed his midrange prowess and brought a high activity level on both ends. Anthony Davis — who came off the bench in his return from a 20-game absence and checked in alongside Hachimura with 4:22 left in the first quarter — said Darvin Ham called plays for Rui that are usually run for AD.
Davis' message to Hachimura: If you're one-on-one, be aggressive.
Anthony Davis said Darvin Ham called some plays for Rui Hachimura that usually go to AD, while Ham told him to stand in the corner. “I gotta talk to coach about this,” he joked.
AD said he told Rui, “If they don’t double, you don’t pass.” pic.twitter.com/iw1rYgswGp
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) January 26, 2023
Rui Hachimura doing all the little things tonight for the Lakers and finishing by going to work one-on-one. pic.twitter.com/6WC3kwJzlE
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) January 26, 2023
Unfortunately, it seems like folks in Hachimura's home country may have missed all of that (at least on the live stream).
Rakuten — the streaming platform which has been the NBA's exclusive live-game distribution partner and provides the only official platform to watch games in Japan (Rakuten pays the Golden State Warriors $20 million per year for a jersey patch) — apparently experienced a crash around tip-off of Spurs-Lakers due to high viewing demand (the game began around noon in Japan).
Fans expressed their frustration at Rakuten's failure on social media. Spectrum's Mike Trudell confirmed the tech issue on the Lakers' broadcast.
When Hachimura was informed about the crash, he explained how popular the Lakers brand is in his native country.
“The Lakers are literally the most famous NBA team in Japan. Yeah, I think a lot of people are watching me here. Of course, they've been following me. As a country, we are so happy about this move. I'm so happy to be here.”
Rui Hachimura’s response to being told Rakuten servers in Japan crashed during the Lakers game, due to the amount of folks who tried to watch his Lakers debut.
Rui said the Lakers are the biggest NBA team in Japan, so it’s a big deal that he’s playing in LA. pic.twitter.com/Ai2NFCSQin
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) January 26, 2023
At his introductory remarks on Tuesday, Hachimura also noted that the Lakers are “one of the most famous teams in Japan.” He said Kobe Bryant was his personal hero, and he wore No. 8 in Washington as a nod to Bryant (he's rocking 28 for the Lakers).
“From 13 years old, that is why I started playing basketball. I watched him a lot,” Hachimura said.
Hachimura is the second Japanese-born player to play in the NBA and the first to play for the Lakers.
Sounds like Rakuten better call their IT team before the Lakers visit the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
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