The Los Angeles Lakers are closer to the top of the Western Conference than they are to the bottom. It may not be framed that way by those who sing of doom and gloom, but Los Angeles is just 6.5 games back of the No. 1 seed with 56 outings to go—and just 0.5 shy of the No. 5 seed.
One of the players who has quietly become a driving force behind the team's success is Rui Hachimura—an exception to almost every negative rule early in 2024-25.
Hachimura has appeared in 21 of the Lakers' 26 games, averaging a career-high 33.0 minutes per contest. His production hasn't necessarily jumped off the page, but he's provided value in virtually every phase.
According to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, Lakers head coach JJ Redick praised Hachimura for consistently delivering what the coaching staff has asked of him.
"He's responded to every challenge we've given him just in terms of what we've asked him to do and then going out and executing it. He's been a pleasure to coach. He's been a pleasure to be around every day. And we really missed him when he was out. It's interesting, defensively, even when you watch tape, even the stuff off the ball he does the right thing more often than not. He's, to me, he's just like more consistent in terms of what we're asking a guy to do, in terms of his role, his responsibilities, our system, our schemes. Does it without a complaint, like he's awesome to coach."
Unfortunately, Hachimura has been setting a standard the Lakers have otherwise struggled to meet—and it's becoming significantly more difficult to overlook how alone he is.
Lakers' non-stars must follow Rui Hachimura's example to fix flaws
Hachimura is currently averaging 12.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 offensive boards, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.5 three-point field goals made on .485/.443/.810 shooting. He's on pace to set career-best marks in offensive rebounds, steals, and three-point conversions per game.
Bigger than the numbers, however, is the simple fact that Hachimura has provided off-ball value on offense and adequate consistency on defense.
Both of those qualities have been tough to come by in Los Angeles during the 2024-25 regular season. The Lakers are currently shooting just 34.7 percent from beyond the arc, for instance, which ranks No. 20 in the NBA—a far cry from their top-10 ranking in 2023-24.
One of the biggest issues facing the Lakers on the shooting front is that they're No. 26 in catch-and-shoot three-point field goal percentage despite Hachimura converting at 46.3 percent himself.
The issues continue on the defensive end of the floor, where Hachimura is generally where he should be. Unfortunately, the team's overall quality of play on defense has been at such a low level that an adequate team defender has been made to look inadequate by way of overextension.
Rather than being a key cog in the system, Hachimura is having to make up for the mistakes of perimeter teammates who can't seem to capture the value of consistency on defense.
The value of Hachimura being an exception to the rule can be found in the Lakers being 8.5 points per 100 possessions better when Hachimura is on the court than when he isn't. Unfortunately, it also reflects how poorly the team has played without him—including a 6.0-point dip in defensive rating without him.
It's encouraging that Hachimura is taking a step forward on both ends of the floor, but up to this point, the standard he's set has been as elusive as water in the desert for a Lakers team that otherwise can't be bothered to defend.