[Sport] Wizards’ Rui Hachimura is the NBA rookie with the biggest following.

[Lunix I]

LAS VEGAS The media horde was focused squarely on the heralded NBA draft pick, writing notes, taking pictures and filming his every move as if no other players were in the gym.
But, no, the attention wasn't for Zion Williamson, the top pick in the 2019 NBA draft, but rather Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura, who had 61 credentialed Japanese media members from 21 different outlets tracking his every move at the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League.
Yes, summer league.

(There were at least 15 media members solely covering him at the Wizards summer league practice July 6. Not a game. Practice.)
I am used to it now, especially after the draft. It was crazy talking English and Japanese back and forth. But I have gotten used to it, Hachimura told The Undefeated.

One of my jobs is to represent Japan. People want to see me right now. I'm everywhere right now in Japan on TV, newspapers. I am doing it for my country and the little kids watching me.

Seeing a large Japanese media contingent following baseball players in America has been commonplace for a while. Major league baseball stars past and present, from Hideo Nomo to Ichiro Suzuki to Hideki Matsui to Yu Darvish to Shohei Ohtani, have primarily answered questions from the North American media in English through a translator and then in Japanese with their native media. That won’t be the case for Hachimura.

Hachimura learned to speak fluent English while at Gonzaga, primarily by listening to rap songs, watching Netflix, playing video games and talking to his teammates.

The difference is I don't use a translator, Hachimura said. But it's good for me because I learned the language and speak English and Japanese too. It makes me smart because it strains on my brain.

Former Phoenix Suns guard Yuta Tabuse, who played in four career NBA games, and current Memphis Grizzlies guard Yuta Watanabe have also received attention from Japanese media. Former Denver Nuggets head coach Jeff Bzdelik recalled getting grilled by Japanese media daily about Tabuse during his short stint with the team during 2003 training camp.

He's good, solid and composed for a young player, said Wizards assistant coach Robert Pack, who played 13 seasons in the NBA. He takes his time, has a good feel for it. He hasn't played a lot of basketball, but he competes and plays hard. He plays within himself.