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Lakers open up about former forward: ‘One of my favorite teammates’

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Price, K. (2026, October 24). Lakers open up about former forward: ‘One of my favorite teammates’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/24/sports/austin-reaves-on-rui-hachimura-one-of-my-favorite-teammates/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-24 · by Khobi Price

Quick Summary

Lakers superstar Luka Doncic expressed fondness for his former teammate Rui Hachimura during a recent game against the Clippers. Hachimura, who played for the Lakers from 2019 to early this year before signing with the Clippers, was greeted warmly by Doncic and other Lakers players both pregame and postgame. The article highlights the positive relationship between Hachimura and his former teammates, noting that despite some playful trash talk during the game, everyone was happy to see each other again.
Written by AI on 2026-10-24, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Lakers superstar Luka Doncic showed playful camaraderie towards former teammate Rui Hachimura during a game against the Clippers on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. Doncic, known for being competitive, was especially jovial, hugging Hachimura before the game and engaging in friendly banter throughout. Hachimura, who left the Lakers earlier this year after spending 3½ seasons with the team, including a year and a half alongside Doncic, received a warm welcome from fans and former coaches during his return to the arena. Despite the positive reception, Hachimura expressed that he would have liked to remain with the Lakers if given the choice.

Written for “Lakers Former Forward Praise” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lakers Former Forward Praise
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 3% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of Luka Doncic's activities around the Lakers season opener, one focusing on his parking and transportation generosity and the other on his interaction with Rui Hachimura.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes an interaction between Luka Doncic and Yaxel Lendeborg during a Lakers vs. Warriors game, while Article B discusses Doncic's comments about Rui Hachimura in a different game.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events involving Luka Doncic: one is about trash talk during the Lakers' season-opening game against the Warriors, and the other is about Doncic's reaction to Rui Hachimura's return in a later game.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different interactions involving Luka Dončić - one is about his interview with Malika Andrews after a game against the Golden State Warriors, and the other discusses his interaction with Rui Hachimura in a game against the Clippers.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 33 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes Steve Kerr's reaction to Yaxel Lendeborg's comments about defending Luka Doncic after a game, while Article B discusses Luka Doncic joking around with an opponent during a different game against the Clippers and mentions Rui Hachimura's return.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different games: one involving the Warriors and Clippers, and another against the Jazz.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different games involving Luka Doncic, one against the Warriors and Clippers, another against the Jazz.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 50 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different games and situations involving Luka Doncic, with Article A referring to his interactions during a game against the Clippers after Rui Hachimura's return, while Article B discusses Doncic being out due to back tightness in a subsequent game.”
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 49 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles mention different games and focus on different players and interactions.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
32
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
3%
1 of 32 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-24 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15728 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Khobi Price
59 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The game couldn’t have started better for the Lakers, who were fueled by a signature Luka Doncic scoring early scoring flurry Friday night in Chase Center.
🔮 The Lakers will be without one of their starting wings when they kick off NBA Cup Group Play action against the Warriors on Friday night at Chase Center.
🔮 It’s unlikely Doncic and Reaves will come even close to being the highest-scoring duo in a season.
🔮 When the Lakers would need to play or rely on players they normally don’t, for whatever the circumstances it may be for that given game. And against the Clippers, which was the second night of the back-to-back set after Tuesday’s home loss to the Trail Blazers, the circumstances were being without superstar guard Luka Doncic (back tightness) and Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness).
🔮 And he would’ve liked to return to the franchise.
🔮 The Lakers couldn’t stop Portland from anywhere on the court: The Blazers shot 59% from the field and 50% on 3s.
🔮 Coach JJ Redick responded “still working through that” when asked if there was an update on when Carr could make his regular season debut. “He was able to do a full practice,” Redick said.
🔮 The league announced Monday afternoon that Ziaire Williams was assessed a postgame flopping fine of $2,000 upon league office review.
🔮 After making the 3 that tied the game at 116, the 6-foot-8 guard slid into the proper help defensive position to take a charge against Keyonte George driving into the paint before the Jazz guard could make the kickout pass to Doncic’s man, Ace Bailey, in the corner.
🔮 Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle both scored 11 points.
Also by Khobi Price
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 59 articles by Khobi Price →

Topics

Clippers Crypto.com Arena Lakers Slovenian Warriors

Subjects

Lakers ORG · 10× Hachimura PERSON · 8× Doncic PERSON · 7× Clippers ORG · 3× Instagram ORG · 2× TikTok ORG · 2× YouTube ORG · 2× Luka Doncic PERSON · 1× Warriors ORG · 1× Yaxel Lendeborg PERSON · 1×

Narrative

His recent verbal back and forth with Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg throughout the Lakers’ season-opening win on Wednesday night showcased a glimpse of how competitive the Slovenian guard can get on the court. But Doncic was especially exuberant during the Lakers’ win over the Clippers on Friday night because the game was also Rui Hachimura’s return to Crypto.com Arena after the Japanese forward spent 3 ½ seasons with the Lakers, which included 1 ½ as a teammate with Doncic.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-24
🔮 It isn’t often that Lakers superstar Luka Doncic will joke around with an opponent – especially during a game.
2026-10-24 · New York Post
Lakers open up about former forward: ‘One of my favorite teammates’ · assertive framing

Claims (32 extracted, 1 hedged)

It isn’t often that Lakers superstar Luka Doncic will joke around with an opponent – especially during a game. asserted
Doncic → joke → game
His recent verbal back and forth with Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg throughout the Lakers’ season-opening win on Wednesday night showcased a glimpse of how competitive the Slovenian guard can get on the court. But Doncic was especially exuberant during the Lakers’ win over the Clippers on Friday night because the game was also Rui Hachimura’s return to Crypto.com Arena after the Japanese forward spent 3 ½ seasons with the Lakers, which included 1 ½ as a teammate with Doncic. asserted
which → open → Doncic
Doncic ran onto the court and hugged Hachimura pregame before the Clippers forward could start his routine. uncertain
forward → run → routine
And even when the 2019 first-round draft pick was going through his pregame process, there Doncic was, being jovial with his former teammate as Hachimura greeted his old Lakers coaches. asserted
Hachimura → go → coaches
The playfulness from Doncic’s side continued during the game. asserted
playfulness → continue → game
“I don’t like Rui… asserted
I → like → Rui
Nah, it was just great to see him,” Doncic said. asserted
Doncic → see → him
“He’s my guy. asserted
He → ’ → ?
We had a year and a half together, great friends, so it was really nice to see him.” asserted
it → have → him
The playfulness turned into trash talk when the game started. asserted
game → turn → talk
“He was just trying to talk trash or whatever,” Hachimura said. asserted
Hachimura → try → trash
“But I don’t care about that stuff. asserted
I → care → stuff
I had a good time with him, two years with the Lakers. asserted
I → have → Lakers
I’m happy to see him. asserted
I → ’m → him
It was clear Doncic wasn’t the only Laker who was happy to see Hachimura. asserted
who → see → Hachimura
Hachimura and Lakers star guard Austin Reaves, who were teammates during the former Gonzaga forward’s entire tenure with the Lakers, also embraced on the court pregame and postgame on Friday. asserted
who → embrace → Friday
“He’s one of my favorite teammates I’ve ever had,” Reaves said. asserted
Reaves → ’ → teammates
“I made a joke the other day that I didn’t know if he spoke English for the first two weeks. asserted
he → make → weeks
We sat by each other on the plane his first year and I would say hey to him. asserted
I → sit → him
He kind of just looked at me and [nodded]. asserted
He → look → me
“And then after that I couldn’t get him to shut up. asserted
him → get → that
Always in a good mood, happy to be here, puts the work in and it’s just good to see him be happy and successful and enjoying his life.” asserted
him → put → life
Hachimura’s demeanor is why coach JJ Redick said he was “one of my favorite players I’ve ever been around in the NBA.” asserted
I → say → NBA
“One of my favorite players I’ve ever coached,” he added. asserted
he → coach → players
“And it’s because of just the consistency of joy and personality that he brings every day. asserted
he → ’ → that
And that joy radiated from Hachimura throughout Friday, despite his new team losing to his old team. asserted
team → radiate → team
He finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes against the Lakers. asserted
He → finish → Lakers
“It was amazing, it was a great time with them,” Hachimura said of his time with the Lakers. asserted
Hachimura → say → Lakers
“This organization, of course I missed them. asserted
I → miss → them
But it was time to move on. asserted
it → move → ?
I’m happy with the Clippers right now. asserted
I → ’m → Clippers
I gotta keep going with my career.” asserted
I → got → career
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