Rui Hachimura says the NBA schedule ‘was really tough’ as a rookie

The Wizards rookie pointed to the grueling travel schedule as the hardest part of adjusting to the NBA.

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Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura spent some time on Tuesday night answering questions in a live Q&A on Twitter with team correspondent Zac Ikuma.

Hachimura said he has been able to work out in his apartment with some weights he has around during the coronavirus pandemic while he also has a stationary bike he can use for cardio exercise.

The ninth overall pick also reflected on his rookie season with the Wizards to this point of the year and said the hardest part was the grueling NBA travel schedule.

“I think the schedule was really tough for me, especially coming out from a college,” Hachimura said. “The college max we have like maybe 30 games a year. Here, obviously, we play like 80 and even more if we make the playoffs. Playing games almost every day and then, obviously, we have a road game: Go to the West Coast, come back East Coast and back and forth. It was really tough for me to adjust to.”

As Hachimura said, the toughest part for first-year players is often the travel schedule. The NBA schedule is more than double that of college basketball and players will have as many as four or five games in any given week.

Hachimura suffered a groin injury this season and missed 23 games, spanning nearly two months of the season, so he basically still has to adjust to the rigors of a full schedule.

While the schedule was the toughest part for Hachimura, he responded by establishing himself as perhaps one of the top rookies after averaging 13.4 points, six rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

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