Olbrich 'Lached' in on NBA return via Japan's Alvark Tokyo

• Olbrich signs a one-year deal with Alvark Tokyo as a high-paid B.League import
• He chose Japan over European interest to work with new coach Ryan Richman
• The 22-year-old had 37 NBA games and a triple-double with Chicago last season

Michael Jordan, Jay Williams, Kirk Hinrich and Lachlan Olbrich.

NBL25 champion Olbrich, 22, etched his name into Chicago Bulls history in his last game before signing with Alvark Tokyo in Japan's B.League Premier at the weekend.

Jordan, Williams and Hinrich were the only players in Bulls history to record a triple-double in their rookie campaigns until Olbrich had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against the Dallas Mavericks on April 12, going 4-from-7 from the field with two steals in 31 minutes.

It was the former Illawarra Hawks champion’s last game in the NBA – for now.

"The main thing that made Tokyo Alvark so appealing was getting the chance to work with Ryan Richman," Olbrich told ESPN.

"He's got a lot of confidence in my abilities, but also in my potential, so I believe he's going to help put me on the right path to get back to the NBA, which is where I feel I belong."

American Ryan Richman left the NBA to build a career in Japan. He was an assistant at Maryland under Mark Turgeon before joining the Washington Wizards as an assistant in 2021, then took the head coaching job at Japan’s SeaHorses Mikawa and led them to three straight playoff appearances.

In February, he was named an assistant to Dai Okeya with the Japan national team, and in June he was appointed head coach of Alvark Tokyo.

Olbrich knows what he has to prove.

"I think the biggest thing for me is continuing to show my shooting ability and proving I can do it consistently at a high level," he said.

"I know I've got the capability, so now it's about getting out to Tokyo and showing it every night, to prove I can be a consistent threat from the three."

The club framed the signing around what he does for everyone else.

"He's the ultimate connector, someone who makes everyone around him better," Alvark Tokyo said.

"He plays with tremendous energy and toughness on both ends of the floor, and we believe that competitive spirit will be contagious throughout our group."

"Most importantly, he's a winner. We can't wait to win together, grow together, and help him continue on that path toward his ultimate goal of making it back to the NBA."

He has been a winner at every stop, which is the part of this that gets undersold.

Olbrich played one season of college basketball at UC Riverside before joining the Illawarra Hawks ahead of the 2023-24 season, and he was a key member of the side that won the 2025 NBL Championship. He was taken 55th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft with a pick that belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers and had been traded to Chicago.

The two-way contract that followed gave him 37 NBA games with the Bulls, split between the NBA and the G League.

Olbrich’s was also the fourteenth triple-double by an Australian for the Chicago Bulls last season.

Josh Giddey had the other thirteen, and he did not play that day.

Olbrich was part of the Golden State side that won the 2026 NBA Summer League title in Las Vegas, before the Warriors moved on from him.

Three seasons, an NBL championship, an NBA triple-double and a Summer League ring, all before his 23rd birthday.

He will not be the only familiar name in the Alvark locker room. Former Cairns Taipans and Sydney Kings forward D.J. Hogg is on the roster. Olbrich is expected to arrive in Japan this month.

The B.League has become a genuine destination for Australians rather than a stopover, and the traffic runs both ways. Brock Motum left the Toyama Grouses this month after seasons in Japan and signed in Taiwan. NBL clubs have spent this off-season playing pre-season games against B.League opposition, with Perth headed to Okinawa in September to face the Chiba Jets and the Ryukyu Golden Kings.

Olbrich is going the other way, and he has been explicit that it is temporary as he continues to define his role in the NBA.

"Being the ultimate glue guy, connector guy, kind of what Draymond Green does with Golden State," Olbrich told the Mercury News while playing for the Warriors in the Summer League.

"I'm just trying to be better in those areas; being able to defend all five positions is what I'm trying to get to, and just getting the ball from side to side."

Olbrich, who hurt his ankle in Las Vegas, averaged 13.3 points across three California Classic games in early July, including a 21-point night against Miami on 7 July, during which he went 7-for-7 from the field. By the end of Las Vegas, he was averaging 6.4 points in 14.2 minutes.

"He gives us playmaking at the five, he's a tougher rebounder, and he's like a quarterback behind the play with his communication with other defenders," Warriors summer league coach Khalid Robinson said.

"WHO IS RYAN RICHMAN"

Ryan Richman is an American coach who left the NBA to build a career in Japan, and he has just turned down the chance to go back. He was a graduate assistant at Maryland under Mark Turgeon before joining the Washington Wizards as an assistant in 2021, then took the head coaching job at the SeaHorses Mikawa and led them to three straight playoff appearances. In February he was named an assistant to Dai Okeya with the Japan national team, and in June he was appointed head coach of Alvark Tokyo.

Around half a dozen NBA teams pursued him as an assistant this off-season, according to reporting carried by HoopsHype and RealGM, and he chose Tokyo instead. That is the context for what Olbrich has just done. A coach passed on the NBA to take this job, and a 22-year-old has passed on Europe to play for him.

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