UCLA Star Playing Interesting Role in NBA Finals

Yes, a former UCLA basketball standout will be attending the 2025 NBA Finals, but it's not in the way that you might think.

Former Bruins star and current Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. will be attending the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers as one of four NBA Player Correspondents.

Jaquez is slated to give a ton of inside and sideline access for the finals being presented on YouTubeTV for game two of the series.

Who are the other 3 Player Correspondents?

Jaquez Jr. will be joined by Philadelphia 76ers rookie star Jared McCain, who is in charge of game one, NBA Defensive Player of the Year finalist and Atlanta Hawks forward Dyson Daniels for game three, and Chicago Bulls' high-flying rookie Matas Buzelis.

The NBA has always made efforts to showcase its younger stars and what better place to do it than the biggest stage of the year?

Jaquez Jr. had subpar sophomore year coming off a rookie showcase that lamented him the steal of the draft after being selected by Miami with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

The 24-year-old forward saw his 2023-24 All-Rookie numbers go down to 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game on 46.1/31.1/75.4 shooting splits.

Those averages dropped from the 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 48.9/32.2/81.1 shooting splits that placed him fourth in rookie of the year voting last season.

Jaquez Jr. spent four seasons with the Bruins and played in 134 games. He averaged 17.8 points per game in his final season to go along with 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He finished eighth on UCLA's all-time scoring list and 11th on the all-time rebounding list.

His younger sister, Gabriela, plays for the UCLA women's basketball team and the two have built up a Mexican-American basketball dynasty in their time in Westwood.

The NBA Finals begins on Thursday, June 5, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Jaquez Jr. will appear in the second game of the series which takes place on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET.

All finals games between the Western Conference's Thunder and Eastern Conference's Pacers will be televised on ABC and ESPN.