"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Lakers star Rui Hachimura and LA Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese. The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context.
That's where John comes in to help. John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers star Rui Hachimura answered a couple of questions in Japanese after he scored 14 points in a 120-101 victory for Los Angeles over the Washington Wizards on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. His answers in Japanese start at the five minute mark.
Q: Good game today. In the second quarter when you scored consecutive points, it gave the team an instant boost and you guys were able to stretch the lead. This didn't come at the end of a game, but a lot of times when you enter the game, you make plays to key momentum swings for the team, or in the final minutes you help make plays that lead the club to victories. Is that something you're cognizant of, trying to make one little play here and then make the next play?
Hachimura: For me, since joining this team, I’ve been called an X factor. My mindset is that when I enter the game, when I play, I definitely want to change the flow, or make things go in our favor, if things are going well, I want to help maintain that. That’s what I concentrate on doing and lock in on when I play.
Q: This is something unrelated to the game, but yesterday everyone was making their own jersey numbers to practice in. What number did you wear? Who wore your jersey number?
Hachimura: I didn’t have a jersey, so I didn’t do that.
Q: I heard that was done as a team-bonding activity, how do you feel about it?
Hachimura: I don’t know. I wasn’t part of that, so I don’t know about it.