The Los Angeles Lakers suffered an unexpected first round exit, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. Despite being the No. 3 seed and holding home court advantage over the No. 6 seed Timberwolves, the Lakers were unable to circumvent their lack of size against a big Minnesota team.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74039240/2210935639.0.jpg)
In addition to LA's front court issue, there was an overall lack of offensive production outside of LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Austin Reaves and Dorian Finney-Smith, two key players during the regular season, each shot well-below their season averages from 3-point range in the five-game loss to Minnesota.
One player who remained productive for LA in the postseason was 6-foot-8 forward Rui Hachimura.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura
Averaging 14.8 points against the Timberwolves, a slight increase from his regular season average (13.1), Hachimura converted on a team-best 48.4% of his 3-point attempts in the postseason. This consistency was invaluable to a Lakers team desperate for production outside of James and Doncic, which was evidenced by the 36.4 minutes per game JJ Redick played Hachimura in the playoffs.
Following LA's early exit, Hachimura made an exciting announcement on his offseason plans. The Japanese forward is returning home to host a basketball camp.
This announcement went viral on X, tallying over one million views. Hachimura linked a website that revealed more details.
"BLACK SAMURAI 2025 THE CAMP is a basketball camp for junior and senior high school students who are serious about playing on the world stage," the website states. "Rui Hachimura will directly teach the skills, physical fitness and mindset he learned in the NBA with world-class coaches."
