Photo Credit: Paul Sancya / Associated Press

Where In The World Is Rui Hachimura?

When the Washington Wizards decided to select Rui Hachimura with their 9th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Hachimura became the first Japanese player ever taken in the first round.

Ever since, Rui has become a global ambassador of the game. This status has obviously led to him becoming a bigger celebritiy than most young players. Pair this with two season basically without any time off and you might have an explanation why things simply got too much for Hachimura.

During training camp, Rui was on a team approved absence for personal reasons – he reportedly wanted to focus on his mental health, but apparently, he’s still nowhere to be found.

Per Quinton Mayo:

Hachimura was given an excused absence due to personal reasons back in September (first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic) causing him to miss Wizards training camp. Fast forward, and Hachimura still hasn’t joined the team.

Not only has he not joined the team, nobody has seen him.

According to multiple sources, Hachimura hasn’t been in the practice facility at the same time as his teammates. “We haven’t seen him at all,” one source told me. “Maybe he does individual workouts at night, I’m not sure. We have no idea what’s going on with him.”