Rui Hachimura leaves Team Japan, 2024 Olympics with left calf injury
Rui Hachimura’s 2024 Olympics were cut short as a calf injury left him unable to to play against Brazil for Japan.
It was an abrupt end to Rui Hachimura’s 2024 Olympics on Friday as the forward did not play in Japan’s final game due to a left calf injury. Through the opening two games, Hachimura had led Japan, including scoring 24 points in the team’s upset bid against France.
With Hachimura, Japan lost 102-84 against Brazil on Friday, eliminating them from the Olympics in the process.
The severity of Rui’s injury is not known. His statement on the injury was about as mundane as things go:
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to join the team due to the need for treatment,” Hachimura said. “I would like to thank all my fans in Japan for their support.”
While certainly not wanting to imply anything, Japan’s fate was more or less sealed heading into the game. While a 1-2 record could have seen them get through to the quarterfinals, the tiebreaker of point differential was heavily against Japan.
The team’s hefty loss to Germany in their opener, 97-77, meant they weren’t going to be in the running for a wild card spot, regardless of Friday’s result. That does, however, make the loss to France sting all the more.
In that game, Rui was ejected after some insane officiating that led to him being ejected after a fairly mundane foul on Rudy Gobert. Without Hachimura, Japan eventually fell to the hosts in overtime.
Had they completed the upset of France, a win on Friday would have seen them through to the quarterfinals. Again, none of this is to imply Rui could have played through the injury and didn’t. It’s more to point out that Friday’s result had little impact on Japan’s standing, which perhaps made the decision to rest Rui an easier one.
There will be about six or seven weeks between now and the start of the Lakers training camp. The focus now will be on getting him healthy and ready to contribute next season as injuries really derailed the first half of his season in purple and gold last year.
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