UCLA Basketball: Rico Hines’ Annual Pickup Games & Motivational Speeches Return

Rico Hines has been able to accomplish a number of great things in both his playing and coaching career. He was a member of the UCLA Bruins men's basketball team the same that time that future NBA All-Star Baron Davis was there and has also been a member of multiple professional coaching staffs with the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers.

However, Hines' impact on the game has extended far beyond just what goes on in the regular season and he helps out players on other teams as well. The NBA and NCAA offseasons are pretty tough for fans to deal with, especially those that become accustomed to multiple forms of basketball content. all throughout the year. But Hines has put together his own summer pickup games at UCLA for quite some time now and they have returned once again.

A number of clips went viral from last year's runs that included an insane KJ Martin poster dunk, John Wall splashing three's ahead of his first season with the Los Angeles Clippers and Amari Bailey, Jaime Jaquez and other Bruins showing out against professional talent.

Bailey was spotted on the sidelines in this first video released on Rico Hine's Youtube channel but he did not participate in any of the included games just yet. Thomas Bryant, Ben Mclemore and other NBA players were competing though and gave the first look at these pickup games that will continue over the next few weeks.

Not every offseason workout and game is allowed to be recorded, especially when players are working on certain aspects of their own game that they do not want other people to see, but it's great to know that Hines shares his own system with the world.

Not to mention his inspiring speeches before each day that remind the players to help one another get better and compete at all costs.