It looks that youthful Rui Hachimura has caught LeBron James’s work ethic and training regiment.

The Japanese-American plays the same position as the legendary Lakers star. Of course he wants to replace LeBron James as the starting small forward someday. It has been reported that Rui Hachimura is training alongside LeBron James as the Lakers continue to prepare for the next season. Few NBA players ever have the opportunity to learn from one of the league’s all-time greats. Hachimura is like a sponge, soaking up as much information as he can.

ESPN claims that Rui rearranged his job schedule so that he could visit James at the El Segundo Lakers’ practice facilities. In their most recent season, the Lakers made it to the Western Conference finals before being soundly defeated by the Denver Nuggets. Rui Hachimura appeared in 33 games and averaged 9.6 points, 4.7 boards, and 0.7 dimes per game. In the words of ESPN’s Dave McMenamin: “A guy who LeBron’s already rubbed off on, Rui Hachimura has been changing up his practice schedule leading up to the season and meeting LeBron at the gym in El Segundo for 7 a.m. workouts.”

The Lakers’ success this season hinges on the play of their established All-Stars, as well as the development of young talent like Rui Hachimura. The next season should also benefit from Austin Reaves’s experience at the FIBA World Cup. Those two rising players need to improve if the current All-players are to feel secure in their bench depth. Even though making the Western Conference Finals the year before was a huge accomplishment, this year’s competition is much fiercer. The Nuggets, Warriors, Clippers, Suns, and Dallas Mavericks are just some of the teams that won’t be messing around this season. Are you as eager as we are for the commencement of the new NBA season?