Ranking Washington Wizards’ Hachimura among tonight’s MVP candidates

4. Rui Hachimura

Here he is, our guy, Washington Wizards’ forward Rui Hachimura. And it’s going to surprise a lot of people, and maybe even make them scoff a bit, but hear me out first okay?

My reasoning here is that in my eyes, there’s only really one other guy on Team World that stands a chance of winning this thing. More on that guy later, but the roster reads like a litany of solid bench players on the World side with names like Svi Mykhailiuk, Brandon Clarke, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

In fact, Rui is one of only four players on Team World that are starters for their team. You can certainly make a case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or RJ Barrett ahead of Hachimura, but I’m convinced Rui is ready to show out. If Deandre Ayton were playing in this game and not injured, I’d probably have to bump Rui Hachimura from this list altogether.

But here’s the other major advantage Rui has in garnering the MVP vote: his heritage. Rui is HUGE in Japan. So huge, in fact, that they’re building ice sculptures of the guy, check it out below.

As the NBA continues to push their bid to make their brand global, we get things like Team USA vs. Team World and various heritage nights across the entire NBA in every stadium. It’s a great thing for the game and for the brand we all love.

So clearly, this choice and his inclusion on this list is predicated on Team World taking the victory tonight. I fully expect Team USA to wipe up, they just have too much talent, but you really never know.

It’s not like people take this game too seriously, and all the players and coaches are justifiably risk averse as no one wants to get injured for the “real” games. If Team World wins, there’s a decent chance Rui is in the mix for the MVP nod.