Los Angeles Lakers star forward Rui Hachimura is intent on coming out of the gates hot to start the 2024-25 NBA season. Hachimura recently expressed how dissatisfied he was with the way the Lakers kicked off the previous 2023-24 campaign. As a result, his words imply that the team is ready to put the league on notice from their season opener and onward.
Rui Hachimura says that the Lakers are focused on getting off to a blistering start next season
According to Silver Screen & Roll’s Edwin Garcia, the Gonzaga product declared that he and his Lakers teammates are laser-focused on pressing toward the mark from day one to ensure that they don’t leave wins on the table early in the schedule, and that they can finish with a better place in the standings:
“We talked about, before the season started, this year, our key is going to be in the details,” Hachimura said. “We’re going to focus on every possession. It doesn’t matter if it’s the preseason or whatever. For us, it’s a practice. We haven’t had many practices yet. This kind of stuff helps us get in a good rhythm going into the season. Last season, we were kind of messing around the first 30, 40 games and then we came back and we made the playoffs. I think we can’t do that this year again. We have to set the tone and play like we’ve been doing it when the season starts.”
The Lakers could have won 50-plus games last season had they started the year stronger
The Lakers finished with a stout 47 wins as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference last season. Being just three wins shy of reaching the impressive 50-win mark, Los Angeles positioned themselves for a postseason run last spring. However, those 47 wins don’t tell the whole story, as they started the year off 11-9 through their first 20 games and we’re as bad as 19-21 through their first 40.
Both of their superstars in Anthony Davis and LeBron James were healthy from start to finish, with Davis having played in 76 games and James in 71. Nevertheless, the upcoming campaign will offer a fresh slate for the Lakers to work with. Albeit, their first 15 games will provide a mixed bag of challenges for them to navigate as they strive to punch their opponents in the mouth and perch themselves near the top of the Western Conference standings.
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The Lakers will face many tests in their first 15 games
The Lakers have an arduous start to the season, where they’ll face the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road– who advanced to the 2024 Western Conference Finals — in their season opener, followed by two more away games against the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal-led Phoenix Suns, the Sacramento Kings and then the Suns once more.
Rounding out their first five games will be a battle at home against the perennial playoff-contending Cleveland Cavaliers. There may not be another team with as difficult a start to the campaign as L.A., as each opponent, save the Kings, won at least 48 games last time out, and Sacramento was no slouch with 46 of their own.
However, afterward, the Lakers will see teams like the Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies both twice over, the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, and Utah Jazz in seven of their ensuing 10 games. All of those teams, save the Grizzlies, are not expected to be in the playoffs mix next season, and Memphis has much to prove having not had former All-Star Ja Morant for the bulk of last season and no longer having Dillon Brooks in town.
Hachimura can take matters into his own hands by ascending in 2024-25
All things considered, Hachimura can help set the tone for Los Angeles in 2024-25 by playing with intensity and connecting on his favored looks from the floor. The Lakers know what they’ll get out of their MVP-caliber stars in Davis and James, and similarly, what key stars in Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell can provide. Hachimura has the potential to have a breakout season, and him proving that from the onset while also playing lights out on defense could help L.A. make good on his and their intentions.
