Rui Hachimura did not enter the NBA as the rookie with the most hype in his class. Although he’s had a good -no, great – rookie season with the Washington Wizards, he isn’t leading the Rookie of the Year conversations, either. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t caught the eye of many NBA fans, and even some NBA veterans.

During the Wizards’ loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Bradley Beal joined the television broadcast. Eventually, the conversation landed on Hachimura. Beal had nothing but good things to say.

Beal, who sees Hachimura more as a small forward than a power forward, claimed ‘the sky is the limit” thanks to Hachimura’s size, athleticism, ball-handling, and – and this was a shocker to hear – three-point shooting. Maybe Beal sees something in practice that we don’t.

Sure, hearing Hachimura’s teammate sing his praises on the team broadcast may ring a bit hollow. But Beal wasn’t the only one doing it.

Later that afternoon, former Washington Wizards and 13-year NBA veteran Jared Dudley gave Rui a shoutout.

Dudley, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, got to see what Hachimura can do when the two teams met earlier this season. Despite a 125-103 Wizards loss, Hachimura had one of the better games of his rookie season and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds on 7-15 shooting from the field.

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The “star tracker” is nothing new for televised sports. Sports fans of all kinds know the familiar graphics: the face of each team’s biggest star, a list comparing their stats, there’s really not much to it. What Washington Wizards fans aren’t used to is seeing Isaac Bonga on the star tracker graphic.

But that’s exactly what they saw if they were acting the local broadcast of the Wizards’ scrimmage vs the Clippers on NBC Sports Washington. Isaac Bonga’s face floating next to Kawhi Leonard.

On the surface, it doesn’t make much sense. Isaac Bonga? A star?! The 4.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, defensive stud in training was the guy to watch?

The immediate reaction: Eye roll. Long sigh. Google new draft lottery date for the 800th time. So Wizards.

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