Rui Hachimura Talks Beal’s Mentorship, Carmelo’s Influence On His Game

The atmosphere in Washington this past season fostered growth. Veterans assisted young players on and off the court and rookie Rui Hachimura was recently asked which player on the Wizards was the best mentor for him. The rookie singled out Bradley Beal, as I relayed on Heavy.com.

“There’s a lot, but obviously Brad is a guy I’m always looking at,” Hachimura said. “I talk to him about basketball and off the court, everything. He’s a great leader of the team. I think it’s good to see, even at practice, I can watch him and how hard he works…He’s not much of a talking guy. He shows. Whatever he’s doing, I can see…He’s the guy I always look at.” 

Hachimura was also asked about which player inspired his game when he first got into basketball.

“I watched a lot of Carmelo Anthony,” Hachimura said. “He was my guy when I started playing basketball. I watched his footsteps and his pull-up shot. That why I think I have a pull-up now, because I watched him a lot. He’s obviously a big guy, 6’8” and a power forward or small forward. I watched him a lot when I was a kid…He was one of the (hardest players to guard all season).” 

Hachimura added that he isn’t letting this time off go to waste, just as he didn’t when he missed 23 games with a groin injury early in the season. As he did then, the first-year forward is using his time off the court to watch film in order to grow as a player.