is a Japanese professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

and is a member of the Japanese national team. Listed at and 230 lbs (104 kg), he plays both the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

and

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

positions. After being selected ninth overall by the Wizards in the 2019 NBA draft, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2020. Born in

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

, lebron achieved success at the youth level in baltimore, leading Meisei High School to three straight All-Japan High School Tournament titles and being a top player for the Japanese under-17 and under-19 national teams in

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

competition. He joined Gonzaga in 2016 as the fifth Japanese-born men's

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

player and in 2017 became the first Japanese national to play in the NCAA Division I men's tournament. As a sophomore, he earned first-team All-WCC honors. He was named a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year.

Early life and career

Hachimura was born in

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

in Japan to a Japanese mother, and

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

ese father, Zakari Jabil. His given name, , means "base" or "fortress" in Japanese; the name was given to him by his grandfather because he was a big fan of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

(the character 塁 is also used for " base" in context of baseball). His surname is from his mother's

family register Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events (Birth certificate, births, Marriage certificate, marriages, and Death certificate, deaths) of its citizens and Residency (domicile), residents. The resulting repos ...

. He has three younger siblings, one brother, and two sisters. Hachimura's younger brother, , is a basketball player at

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...

in Japan. In his childhood, he played

as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. On December 29, 2013, Hachimura led the Meisei High School basketball team to its second title in the All-Japan High School Tournament, scoring 32 points in a 92–78 win over

Fukuoka University Fukuoka University is a private research university located in Fukuoka, Japan. The university has nine faculties with a total of around 20,000 students, 800 of whom are foreign. Its two campuses are in Nanakuma and Kitakyushu. Fukuoka Universit ...

Ohori. In 2014, he helped his team win the tournament for a second straight year. In April 2015, Hachimura was invited to the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

, where he recorded nine points and five rebounds in the International Game. On November 21, 2015, he signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to play

for the

in the US, being considered by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as one of the best international players entering college. On December 29, 2015, Hachimura posted 34 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks to guide Meisei past for his third All-Japan Tournament victory. Despite signing with Gonzaga in the early signing period for 2016, Hachimura's eligibility to play college basketball was called into question. The concerns were that he needed to acclimate better culturally and linguistically to the US and would potentially need to attend a prep school before entering Gonzaga or redshirting if eligible. In February 2016, Hachimura claimed to understand 80 percent of English but speak only 30–40 percent of it. By April 2016, Hachimura was still studying for the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

to gain entrance to college. In May 2016, Hachimura announced that he met the SAT and GPA requirements to be eligible to play at Gonzaga beginning as early as fall 2016. He planned to play as a true freshman and did not

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

his first year.

College career

Hachimura made his regular season debut for the

on November 11, 2016, against

Utah Valley Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, recording one point and three rebounds in four minutes. As a result, he became the fifth Japanese-born player to ever play

basketball. On December 1, he scored a season-high 10 points in 13 minutes in a 97–63 win over

Mississippi Valley State Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a public historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississippi.San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, helping his team win the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

(WCC) title. On March 16, 2017, after playing one minute against

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

, he became the first Japanese native to ever appear in the NCAA Division I men's tournament. Through 28 games as a freshman, Hachimura averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field in 4.6 minutes per game. In the 2017–18 campaign, Hachimura appeared in 37 games for Gonzaga, including two starts, averaging 11.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest. Coming into his junior season, Hachimura was named to the Preseason All-WCC Team. He opened the regular season on November 6, 2018 by scoring 33 points in a 120–79 win over

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

. On November 21, 2018, Hachimura recorded 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists to help upset No. 1-ranked

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the Maui Invitational finals. Subsequently, he was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the tournament. Hachimura was selected the 2019 WCC Player of the Year. He led Gonzaga in scoring (19.7 points per game) during the 2018-19 season and also averaged 6.5 rebounds a contest.

Professional career

Washington Wizards (2019–present)

Rui Hachimura Yuta Watanabe (50640688868)

On April 15, 2019, Hachimura announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and declared for the 2019 NBA draft, where he was drafted ninth overall by the

. Hachimura was the second Japanese-born player to be drafted into the NBA after Yasutaka Okayama, and also the first Japanese player ever taken in the first round. On October 23, 2019, Hachimura made his NBA debut, posting a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) as a starter in a 100–108 loss to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

. On December 1, 2019, Hachimura scored a career-high 30 points in a 125–150 loss to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

along with nine rebounds, three assists and a steal. In December of that year, he and Yuta Watanabe of the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

became the first pair of Japanese players to face each other in the NBA. Hachimura suffered a groin injury against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

on December 16 and had surgery and missed several games. On September 15, 2020, Hachimura was named to the second-team

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

. During the 2021-2022 NBA season, Hachimura played 42 games while averaging 11.3 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, and 1.1 assists per game. This represented a slight dip in his career averages. However, his three-point shooting improved dramatically: Hachimura's 44.7% rate was second only to Luke Kennard (44.9%) among NBA players with at least 100 attempts.

National team career

Junior national team

Hachimura represents

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

internationally. At the 2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Iran, he averaged 22.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks through eight contests, guiding his team to a third-place finish. In April 2014, he played the Albert-Schweitzer-Tournament in Germany with Japan's under 18 national team, finishing in last place. Japan finished the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championships 14th of 16 teams, with Hachimura scoring a tournament-high 22.6 points per game, while pulling down 6.6 rebounds and blocking 1.7 shots per contest. During the tournament, he scored 25 points on the USA team that went on to win the title; that team included four players who were chosen in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

—

Jayson Tatum Jayson Christopher Tatum Sr. (; born March 3, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A McDonald's All-American in high school in Missouri, he played college baske ...

, Josh Jackson,

Caleb Swanigan Caleb Sylvester Swanigan (April 18, 1997 – June 20, 2022) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was ranked among the top prep ...

, and

Ivan Rabb Ivan Charles Rabb Jr. (born February 4, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears. Growing up in California, ...

—plus other future college stars such as

Diamond Stone Diamond Louis Stone (born February 10, 1997) is an American professional basketball player. He played one season of college basketball for Maryland before being drafted 40th overall in the 2016 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. High school ...

and

Malik Newman Malik Tidderious Newman (born February 21, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Avtodor Saratov of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. He attended Callaway High School in Jackson, Mis ...

. Hachimura competed for Japan in the

2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Arabic: 2017 كأس العالم لكرة السلة تحت 19 سنة فيبا) was the 13th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball champi ...

, averaging team-bests 20.6 points and 11.0 rebounds a contest.

Senior national team

In a qualification round for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Hachimura scored 25 points to help Japan defeat Iran 70-56. Hachimura scored a game high 34 points in a loss to

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

during the preliminary round of the

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo.

Personal life

Hachimura has been subjected to online racism by Japanese ethnic nationalists, once noting on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that “Messages like this come almost every day,” referring to anti-black insults that his brother discussed receiving.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 48 , , 48 , , 30.1 , , .466 , , .287 , , .829 , , 6.1 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .2 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 57 , , 57 , , 31.5 , , .478 , , .328 , , .770 , , 5.5 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .1 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 42 , , 13 , , 22.5 , , .491 , , .447 , , .697 , , 3.8 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .2 , , 11.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 147 , , 118 , , 28.5 , , .477 , , .360 , , .779 , , 5.2 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , .2 , , 13.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 34.6 , , .617 , , .600 , , .583 , , 7.2 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , 14.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 5 , , 5 , , 34.6 , , .617 , , .600 , , .583 , , 7.2 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , 14.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 28 , , 0 , , 4.6 , , .528 , , .286 , , .542 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 37 , , 2 , , 20.7 , , .568 , , .192 , , .795 , , 4.7 , , .6 , , .5 , , .5 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 37 , , 37 , , 30.2 , , .591 , , .417 , , .739 , , 6.5 , , 1.5 , , .9 , , .7 , , 19.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 102 , , 39 , , 19.7 , , .579 , , .316 , , .746 , , 4.4 , , .8 , , .6 , , .5 , , 12.1

FIBA Senior Team Events Stats

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017 Asian World Cup Qualifier , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 30.2, , .576 , , .286 , , .762 , , 6.0 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 21.5 , -

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 6 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , .2 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.8 , -

References

External links

*
Washington Wizards bioGonzaga Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hachimura, Rui 1998 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Black Lives Matter people Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Japanese expatriate basketball people in the United States Japanese human rights activists Japanese men's basketball players Japanese people of Beninese descent National Basketball Association players from Japan Olympic basketball players of Japan Power forwards (basketball) Sendai University Meisei High School alumni Small forwards Sportspeople from Sendai Sportspeople from Toyama Prefecture Sportspeople of Beninese descent Washington Wizards draft picks Washington Wizards players