Rui Hachimura Offers Advice for Yuki Kawamura After Clippers vs. Warriors

Forward Rui Hachimura and point guard Yuki Kawamura have played together for Japan on the international stage, and on Sunday they both made their preseason debuts for the Los Angeles Clippers in the same game.

Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors 104-101 at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, and the two players walked away with very different nights.

Hachimura starred while Kawamura only got a few minutes, but Hachimura made sure to back up his friend afterward.

Kawamura checked in off the bench and played four minutes, finishing with one point on 1-of-2 free throw shooting and two turnovers.

When Hachimura was asked about his teammate's first game with the Clippers, he kept it short and backed him up.

"Nervous, but I think he did what he needed to do in the short time. You get more chances just to find his role and position, he'll be fine. For him, I always tell him to be him and play his game and he'll be fine," Hachimura said in a video shared by Farbod Esnaashari.

It is the right message for a player in Kawamura's spot, since he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Clippers in August, which means he is fighting for a roster spot in camp.

At 5-foot-7, he has to win over coaches with his speed and passing, and he has done that before, as he played 22 games for the Memphis Grizzlies two seasons ago and 18 games for the Chicago Bulls last season.

A friend from the national team who keeps telling him to play his own game should help with that.

Hachimura had no trouble in his own first game with the Clippers.

He started and scored 21 points in just 15 minutes, as he made 8 of 11 shots from the field and 4 of 5 from three, and he added five rebounds.

He has already talked about his debut, and a night like that is the reason the Clippers went after him.

The Clippers signed Hachimura in July after his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, and ESPN reported the deal at two years and $28 million.

He was the No. 9 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and is now on his third NBA team.

The two also share a history overseas, as they were teammates for Japan at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Clippers need Hachimura to be this type of scorer.

They traded forward Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors in a deal built around forward Brandon Ingram, and Ingram will miss the start of the season while recovering from surgery on his right heel and a partially torn Achilles.

The team went 42-40 and finished ninth in the Western Conference last season, and the full offseason grade shows how much changed after Leonard left.

Kawamura will need more than four minutes to prove himself, and the Clippers face the Raptors on Saturday, host the Denver Nuggets at Intuit Dome on Oct. 14 and open the regular season against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 21.

If Hachimura keeps scoring like this, the Clippers can get by on the wing while Ingram heals.