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The Lakers’ pregame routine has gone viral across social media this season. Led by LeBron James, the Lakers wrap up their warm-up with a bit of synchronisation before walking off the floor.
Is it a bit silly? Sure. But basketball is a game and not everything has to be serious. It’s a fun tradition the team does every game, home or away.
However, for reasons unclear, LeBron wasn’t around pregame on Sunday and, unfortunately, disaster struck. Rui Hachimura attempted to step in and lead things, but failed miserably at just throwing the ball up in the air in the right direction.
Fortunately, this did not set a tone for the night as the Lakers comfortably took care of business, blowing out the Kings for their second win in as many days. Those good vibes from the win meant the elephant in the room could be addressed pregame.
What in the world happened pregame?
“I literally said no to everybody, but they all pointed at me,” Rui said. “I don’t know…You know what it is, I think because I was doing it before [when] [LeBron] was coming back from the injury. So, they all pointed at me, but I wasn’t really feeling doing it. I was like ‘No, no, no.’ The time was going on, so I was like, ‘Alright, come on.’ I did it. I got booed.”
Luka, the de facto leader of the team, could only react in one way to Rui’s performance: disgust.
“I don’t know why,” Luka said postgame. “Never again. Never again. It was terrible.”
In a contract year, you’d expect a better showing from Rui. Will this hurt him in contract negotiations? Do the Lakers want to bring back someone who struggles to throw the ball up in the air?
If the Lakers want to move into the post-LeBron era seamlessly, then someone is going to need to go through a crash course over the final weeks of the season to learn how to properly toss the ball into the air. Otherwise, that could be another skillset they will look to acquire this offseason.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.