Rui Hachimura: That very same evening, I obtained a name from my agent once more. He mentioned, ‘The Lakers need you.’ And I used to be like, ‘Lakers? What Lakers?’ As a result of I by no means even thought that I’d be a Laker. Proper? So I’m like, ‘Wait, what? What? The Lakers?’ I didn’t even know what he was speaking about. He’s like, ‘Lakers. You bear in mind the Lakers? They need you.’ And I used to be like, ‘Wait… no, I don’t assume so. I shouldn’t do it. No, no, no. That’s too much. Too much pressure. I’m not ready for that.’ I used to be considering, ‘I’ll simply go to a group the place I can earn my minutes, show myself, and construct from there.’ I used to be like, ‘No, no, no, don’t do this commerce.’ My agent mentioned, ‘Are you positive?’ I used to be like, ‘Yeah, I don’t assume so. Let me give it some thought for a day.’ The subsequent day, I obtained on the cellphone with him once more, and he requested, ‘Are you positive you don’t need this? I feel it is a excellent match for you.’ I requested, ‘Why?’ And he defined, ‘Look, the Lakers are struggling proper now. They’re barely holding on, coping with accidents, making an attempt to make the playoffs.’ I feel they have been the eleventh seed on the time. He mentioned, ‘They want you.’ -via YouTube / February 13, 2025
