The LA Lakers have just signed Rui Hachimura and fans are eager to find out more about the player, including his brief bio and parents, ethnicity, siblings, meaning behind his name and more
The Washington Wizards traded Hachimura to the LA Lakers in exchange for Kendrick Nunn as well as three second-round picks.
Who Lakers Rui Hachimura parents, his father, mother, family, nationality and ethnicity
New chapter… pic.twitter.com/nouK4tbsdR
— Rui “Louis” Hachimura 八村 塁 (@rui_8mura) January 26, 2023
Rui Hachimura on why he chose No. 28 with the Lakers:
“No. 2 for Gianna & No. 8 for Kobe.” pic.twitter.com/NfX2DUCvSo
— FIBA (@FIBA) January 31, 2023
The 24-year-old forward proves to be a much-needed extra body for the Lakers who are aiming for a playoff spot. Throughout his first four games for LA, Hachimura has averaged 13.3 PPG on over 52 percent shooting.
Rui Hachimura brief bio and parents
Rui Hachimura was born in Toyama, Japan in 1998 and has quite an interesting background. He was born to parents Makiko and Zakari Jabil. Hachimura’s parents are from two very different countries, his mother Makiko is Japanese, while his father Zakari hails from Benin, West Africa.
Rui Hachimura has three other siblings, a brother and two sisters. His younger brother Allen (Aren) also plays basketball and played at the Tokai University back in Japan. Rui spent most of his childhood in Japan and started playing basketball in the USA since 2016 after joining Gonzaga.
Age and height
Rui Hachimura is currently 24-years-old and stands at a height of 6ft 8 in.
Ethnicity
Rui Hachimura has a mixed ethnicity although he is officially Japanese by nationality. He lived in Japan until moving to the US in 2016. Back in February 2016, Rui reportedly revealed that he understood about 80% of English, but he could only talk about 30-40% of it.
Meaning behind Rui’s name
Rui’s name literally means “base” or “fortress” in Japanese. Rui got his name from his Japanese grandfather who was apparently a big fan of baseball. As a youngster, Hachimura played a lot of baseball as a catcher and pitcher. Rui’s surname is also Japanese, and belongs to his mother’s side of the family.
Racial discrimination
Rui and his brother Allen have reportedly been the subject of racial discrimination in the past. Back in 2021, Aren Hachimura shared a screenshot, which revealed racial slurs that he receives. According to local report, the insults on the screenshot were allegedly ‘anti-black’ and Rui had reportedly commented:
“messages like this come almost every day.”
International Career
So far, Rui has represented Japan in international basketball and played in the qualification round for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. He has also represented Japan during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics preliminary round.
ALSO READ: Who is cricketer Mahesh Pithiya, his biography, age, bowling videos and action, Instagram