This Lakers Player Has Been Training With Sumo Wrestlers This Offseason

Japanese-born Laker forward Rui Hachimura has spent part of his offseason training with sumo wrestlers. 

There have been four Japanese-born players in NBA history: Yuta Tabuse, Yuki Kawamura, Yuta Watanabe, and Rui Hachimura. Hachimura, who plays for the Lakers alongside LeBron James, is currently the biggest name. 

Hachimura was born in Toyama, Japan, in 1988, and has a Beninese father and a Japanese mother. He learned the game and became a star at Meisei High School, which scored him an invite to the Jordan Brand Classic. From there, he was recruited to play for traditional basketball powerhouse Gonzaga. 

While Hachimura has been in America since he was a teenager, he isn't afraid to return to his roots. A video shared by Clutch Points this weekend shows the six-foot-eight, 230-pound forward working out with sumo wrestlers. 

When talking about how hard it was to be a mixed-race child in Japan, Hachimura told Olympics.com how basketball saved him, saying: 

"I started playing sports and I was actually really good at it, and I was more athletic than anybody else, and I was good at everything, you know, baseball, basketball, karate, soccer, track and field. I was always No.1, so that’s how people started respecting me more. And I started to think, you know, it’s really good to be who I am, unique, it’s really unique, I’m half black and I’m half Japanese. I've always been proud of who I am."

Hachimura has been a very effective player since joining the Lakers, acting as a regular starter, shooting better than 40% from three and averaging more than 13 points a game.