Rui Hachimura Opens Up About ‘Tough’ Lakers Exit

The Los Angeles Lakers moved on from Rui Hachimura this offseason as one of many roster reshaping moves. He stayed in Los Angeles, though, signing a two-year deal with the L.A. Clippers. It ended a 3.5-year tenure for Hachimura with the Lakers, during which he became one of the most reliable shooters in the league and a significant playoff riser.

Hachimura shot 41.5% from 3-point range in 228 regular season games with the Lakers, and shot an absurd 50.7% from deep in 36 playoff games with the Lakers. He is currently the NBA’s all-time leader in playoff 3-point percentage. Hachimura felt that consistency was a defining trait of his time with the Lakers, but admitted that challenges came with wearing the purple and gold as well, via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints:

“They think that [only] one season, I was good, but I keep doing it,” Hachimura told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I consistently — like three years in a row — was shooting 45 percent on threes and 50 or 60 percent from mid-range, and I was always top five in shooting for three years. It’s, of course, because of the team and how we operated. We had LeBron [James], [Anthony Davis], Luka [Doncic].

“But also, it’s tough to play for the Lakers. It’s a big crowd, big shine. The lights are brighter. The thing I always say is that I’ve always had that, but it’s just what the team’s situation is. I have to adjust. I can fit in, to any type of team, but I think that’s the one thing that people always talk about. I have more than that to my game, yes, but I always play for the team wherever I’m at, so whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do.”

Hachimura is now with the Clippers, but he admitted to Khobi Price of the California Post that it was tough to leave the Lakers:

“It was tough,” Hachimura told The Post about his free agency. “That’s my second free agency. Of course I was trying to get the extension from [the Lakers]. It didn’t work out, but it is what it is. We have to move on at some point.”

Considering he wanted to stay with the team, Hachimura put the blame for his departure on the Lakers:

“It’s on them,” he responded to The Post when asked what led to his departure from the Lakers. “It wasn’t me. It was them.”

Hachimura’s Clippers will face off against the Lakers for already the second time this season on Wednesday night, although he has been ruled out with an injury. He had a season-high 16 points on 5-for-14 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep in the Lakers’ win over the Clippers last Friday.

Austin Reaves loves that Lakers have no egos

There is a strong vibe around the new-look Lakers that began in the offseason and has continued through the team’s start. Part of the reason for that vibe was explained by Austin Reaves and what he sees from his teammates.

“It’s just make the right play, it’s simple,” Reaves said on Spectrum SportsNet. “You know I talk about it all the time and it’s something that my parents and my brother taught me growing up was, you play the game the right way, the game is gonna reward you.

“We have a team that understands roles and what is asked of them to do. And if they’re gonna do everything that we ask them to do, you gotta help them in situations. That’s, I think, the beautiful thing about our team is there’s no egos, there’s no anything. You just wanna win basketball games and however that happens is the main thing.”