Limping Back Onto The Hardwood…
Oh boy, the Los Angeles Lakers had a real doozy of a Saturday night! Rui Hachimura returned to action alongside the eternally young LeBron James, proving that knee woes can’t keep him benched. Sadly, it wasn’t all slam dunks and happy-hop-steps as Rui’s knees were channeling their inner sloth during their blowout to the Chicago Bulls.
Despite the game being a bit of a disaster, Hachimura shrugged off any fully-recovered notions. Clocking in at just 70-80% health, his knees are on a strike, leaving him with only five points. Last time I checked, the key to winning basketball wasn’t in attending a hop-scotch game, so Hachimura’s got some serious strengthening on his to-do list before the playoffs knock on the door.
Clearly, Rui’s knee doesn’t know the Lakers hope to be playoff party crashers this year! Staying away from teammates to focus on healing his ‘jumping beans,’ Hachimura spent three weeks beefing up his knee with some TLC. If only 12 games left, the Lakers better have Plan B ready. Maybe they can pull a rabbit out of a hat or just start mass-producing ankle braces! Stay tuned, this season’s drama is just getting started.
