UCLA Basketball: Bruin-Turned-NBA Journeyman Unpacks Legendary Wooden Center Workouts

UCLA has long been a hallowed basketball destination. The men's hoops program is the winningest in all of college basketball history with 11 championships, and is located in one of the premiere offseason destinations, just a few miles away from the most legendary team in the NBA. Accordingly, UCLA has emerged as a go-to spot during the offseason for legends of the game (past, future and present) to put in reps.

As former Bruins star wing Matt Barnes told current Los Angeles Clippers All-Star forward Paul George in a recent edition of the latter's show "Podcast P With Paul George," he played against all kinds of Hall of Famers, in summer workouts when he was playing for the Blue and Gold. He played with the team from 1998-2002.

Lakers Hall of Fame shooting guard Kobe Bryant, then a young All-Star, and LA Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson, then recently retired, would both play with Barnes and co. during his early runs in Westwood.

"This is pre-cell phones," Barnes said. "UCLA was a blast. So Baron Davis' class was right before mine, they came in as the No. 1 recruiting class. And then we came in right after with someone named JaRon Rush, if you don't know him, he was cold, PG... 6'7", does everything, a monster... Should've been a perennial All-Star... We had the No. 1 recruiting class in back-to-back years, so I came to UCLA and it was just popping."

"Kobe was kind of a loner off to himelf, so he was always on our campus. Eating, working out, sometimes just sitting down... He kind of [had] just started taking off," Barnes continued. "Just seeing a young him, at 19 years old was dope, just to kind of see his work ethic."

Barnes explained that, along with former Lakers ball boy Adam Mills, Johnson would still put up shots and play alongside the young Bruins.

"Magic was dirty out there," Barnes said. "He would come in with his own players but he would just call bulls--- [on foul calls] the whole time... It's legendary. Paul Pierce got on our podcast one time and told stories about how Magic just totally Magic'd it up."

"We're in there with Kobe and Paul Pierce and Shaq. Those runs from the jump were legendary," Barnes added. "To me I credit that with me kind of getting the mentality... to understand what it took to play at that level."