Adulation poured in for Rui Hachimura from all over as his name was called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Thursday night.
Along with realizing his NBA dream, Hachimura, in being selected ninth overall by the Wizards, becomes the first Japanese-born first-round pick in NBA history.
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Newly crowned NBA champion Jeremy Lin, the first Taiwanese-American to play in the NBA, who just added the distinction of the first Asian-American to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy with the Raptors, extended Hachimura a warm welcome to the league on Twitter.
"Wow congrats to @rui_8mura on being the first ever Japanese born player to be drafted!" Lin wrote. "Look forward to seeing you on the court!"
wow congrats to @rui_8mura on being the first ever Japanese born player to be drafted! Look forward to seeing you on the court!
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) June 21, 2019Former George Washington hoopster Yuta Watanabe, also Japanese, was congratulatory as well. Watanabe, a member of the Grizzlies, went undrafted in 2018.
"Louis to wizards! Congratulations!!!" Watanabe wrote, according to Google's translation. "Dc is my second home, so I'm so happy. And personally, I've achieved the feat of finally getting a license on this happy day today. It is the first license because i did not have a driver's license even in Japan."
ルイがウィザーズへ! おめでとう!!!DCは自分の第2の故郷と言っても過言ではないので、なんか嬉しいですそして私事ですが、自分は今日このめでたい日にようやく免許を取得するという快挙を成し遂げました。日本でも運転免許持ってなかったんで初免許です。#るい #9位 #まじですごい事です
— Yuta Watanabe 渡邊 雄太 (@wacchi1013) June 21, 2019This was clearly a point of pride for players of Asian descent, of which there are still very few in the NBA, and worth taking a moment to celebrate.
