Lakers News: Zach Lowe Issues Mea Culpa For Underestimating This Re-Signed LA Star
Los Angeles Lakers starting combo forward Rui Hachimura has been thriving since head coach Darvin Ham permanently inserted him into his starting lineup, as well he should have.
In the 30 games he's played since becoming a full-time starter, Hachimura has been averaging 16.2 points on .574/.444/.698 shooting splits, five rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks a night. Overall this year, in his first full season since being acquired by LA from the Washington Wizards midway through last season, the 6'8" Gonzaga product is averging 13.6 points on .535/.422/.735 shooting splits, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.6 steals a night.
During the latest episode of his essential podcast The Lowe Post, ESPN's Zach Lowe acknowledged that his previous pessimism about Hachimura's ability to sustain his terrific scoring and overall play in LA's run to the Western Conference Finals last spring was misplaced. On the strength of that run, the Lakers re-signed him to a three-year, $51 million deal last summer.
"I guess I'm gonna have to take the L on kind of just asssuming based on his track record that he could not replicate the shooting that he had in last year's playoffs, 'cause he is more than replicating it," Lowe conceded. "To defend myself, I did say in the playoffs the shooting is great, and it'll go and up and down... you never know how a guy who spent his entire career on a crap team is gonna react to high-pressure playoff games with LeBron James glaring at you when you make mistakes. He was up for it, and he played with a new level of toughness and physicality and urgency to his movements, and decisiveness that you could tell that was real and that would carry over. He has been outstanding... They nailed that trade and they nailed that contract, [team president] Rob Pelinka did."
