Rui Hachimura had a rocky start to his career with the Wizards, but the 25-year-old power forward has found his role with LeBron James and the Lakers.
In the first half of Friday night's Game 6 between the Lakers and Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena, Hachimura stole the show with two electric highlights.
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In the first quarter, Hachimura split two Grizzlies defenders before rising up for the poster jam over Ja Morant.
Rui Hachimura spins through 2 defenders to finish with the dunk #NBAPlayoffs #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/rti1eP3Ly0
— Kalin (@itsKlnn) April 29, 2023
The dunk drew wild reactions on social media after the Lakers gave the highlight the Hollywood treatment.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 29, 2023
In the second quarter, Hachimura backed up his amazing offensive play with incredible defense.
Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane thought he had a layup at the rim after driving past Hachimura, but the former lottery pick came out of nowhere to send the shot away.
Rui Hachimura with a block on Desmond Bane in the paint! pic.twitter.com/MqKEqRPMCn
— dave (@nbadaves) April 29, 2023
MORE: How Hachimura is punishing Grizzlies' disrespectful defense
In just two plays, Hachimura showed exactly why the Lakers are so excited about his future with the team.
"This kid has All-Star skill. He's an All-Star type of talent," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of Hachimura earlier this week. "Him being able to breathe the game and everyone just helping him, all while keeping it simple with him — [James] empowering him, [Anthony Davis] empowering him, his teammates rooting for him.
"You just see it in his play, he's having a great time playing the game of basketball."
