The NBA offseason can be very grueling for fans to get through, especially in the months of August and September when most players are on vacation or quietly working on their games. Over the last few years, however, some of the little-known basketball runs that occur at UCLA in the offseason have been revitalized. At the forefront of the game-planning for those secret runs is NBA coach DaRico Hines, known around the basketball world as Rico Hines.
Photo courtesy Mike Ojo / @bellikemike
Hines played college basketball at UCLA from 1997 to 2002 and became a player development coach with the Golden State Warriors in 2006, where he stayed for four seasons. Of late, Rico Hines worked with the Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach before joining the Philadelphia 76ers this past offseason, opting to remain on the coaching staff of Nick Nurse, who also made the move to join the Sixers this offseason.
The ‘Rico Hines Runs,' as they're now known, have become staple of the NBA offseason. Players attend the private runs, closed off from fans, where they can simply play basketball without worrying about anyone recording them for the drug known as clout on social media. A group of videographers that work with Hines are the only ones who are allowed to record, and fans look forward to those highlights every summer.
Coach Rico Hines spoke with ClutchPoints about the basketball runs he organizes and what he hopes players take away from them.
Tomer Azarly: Why did you decide to start their runs back or carry them on from past years after it died down there for a bit?
Rico Hines: I didn’t start it. Magic Johnson started it a long time ago… It’s for the culture. This is UCLA man. It started way before me. I decided to just keep it going when I came back to LA. When I left St. John’s and came back to LA, I was working out a lot of guys and we just picked it back up. This thing is way bigger than me. I don’t know if you know the tradition of this place, but it’s way bigger than me.
Photo courtesy Mike Ojo / @bellikemike
TA: It goes all the way back to Wilt Chamberlain playing here, doesn't it?
Rico Hines: Well, Magic Johnson started it. When I signed to come play at UCLA in 1997, Magic was running it and it just kept going from there.
TA: I see the advice and the mentorship you provide these guys as a group or individually. What is it that you're trying to impart on these guys to take to their teams or home to their families?
Rico Hines: Well I’m a coach man, so I’m always coaching. That’s the biggest thing. I’m a coach, I’m always trying to just coach and teach and lead and mentor them. Just try to help them with their big picture, which is having longevity in the game.
TA: I don't know how many people realize this right away, but when did you realize being a coach also meant being a mentor to these guys?
Rico Hines: Well they know. I’ve been coaching 19 years man. It all goes hand in hand. Coaching, teaching, mentoring. I’m a teacher first, I’m a guidance counselor sometimes, a friend sometimes, an uncle, a parent. That’s what comes with coaching. All of that comes together.
Photo courtesy Mike Ojo / @bellikemike
TA: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten?
Rico Hines: Just keep coaching. Keep coaching man. Show up every day, be consistent and keep coaching. Coach. You know what I mean. This is coaching. The people that understand it know what’s going on, but sometimes it’s just a different era of people because of Instagram and social media and all of that stuff. We’ve been doing this way before that. It just wasn’t on social media. I just started letting people in over the past few years, so we’ve been doing it for a while.
TA: Are you able to see the impact that you're making on these guys? Is that something tangible?
Rico Hines: Well, like I said man, I’m so locked into the big picture of their game and their life, I just get caught up in the consistency of showing up for them. Having a consistent routine and having a consistent presence and being pure to the game of basketball, I hope they feel it. I hope they like it. Most of the time, from all of them, they call me ‘Uncle Rico,' and they’re like, ‘yeah we do. We feel it, we love it,' and they want more of it. I just try to show up for them man. That’s it.
*Parts of this interview were condensed for clarity and brevity.
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