Alex Caruso will make his shortly-awaited and profoundly bittersweet return to Staples Center on Monday, as his Chicago Bulls face the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers, of course, helped develop Caruso from an undrafted free agent and G-Leaguer into a fan favorite, All-NBA caliber defender, and starter in the title-clinching Game 6 of the NBA Finals. He became a plus/minus lord, surprising highlight factory, and earned the “GOAT” nickname from LeBron James — with whom he developed hyper-productive chemistry.
Yet, despite all of that, the Lakers let the 28-year old walk in free agency to save $17ish million in luxury tax penalties. The Lakers were unwilling to go above $7 million per season, enabling the Bulls to scoop Caruso at four years, $37 million. Thus far, he's ignited Chicago's defense, excited the fan base, and his tenacity has rubbed off on his teammates.
And while the Lakers are beginning to find their footing, they've struggled in the two areas in which Caruso shines the brightest (not including the top of his head): wing defense and effort.
OK — that's all the lamentations we're going to do at this moment. For now, let's celebrate Caruso's remarkable run in Los Angeles by running down his most memorable moments with the Lakers — most of which we'll see later today in what will surely be a poignant tribute video.
5) Double-clowning of Lonzo Ball
In a Feb. 2020 matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, Caruso made his then-former and now-current teammate (and highlight partner) Lonzo Ball look silly…twice.
First, he showed off his elite help defense skills with a sick rejection on a Lonzo dunk attempt. Later, he turned a Pelicans turnover into a tough And-1 layup on Lonzo — predictably sending the Staples Center crowd into a frenzy.
4) Tomahawk vs. Mavericks
These days, Caruso's athleticism is not just widely-known, it's eye-popping. His lateral quickness makes him an on-ball defensive maestro, he's impressively sculpted his body up, and he's registered numerous above-the-rim moments.
This jam, though, from early in the 2019-20 season, was before all that, and it accelerated the growth of his legendary status.
Caruso, not seemingly going at full speed, gathers and takes a long step through the lane. He takes off at the dotted line, and surprising everybody in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area — this is pre-headband and full baldness — yams it on Maxi Kleber. Maybe his best poster.
3) Put back dunks
In a Dec. 2019 game against the Denver Nuggets, Caruso — using his next-level basketball IQ — appropriately assumes Lakers Danny Green is going to miss a wide-open 3, so he charges the rim from the baseline. The ball clangs right to him, and he gathers it with two hands then flushes it with authority with one. The Lakers bench absolutely loses it. Outstanding.
This wasn't just the altitude in Denver.
However, we had seen him do this before. In a similar fashion, Caruso threw the hammer down on a putback against the Golden State Warriors in April of 2019. Watch him crash the glass and switch from two hands to one for a poster of JaVale McGee.
His receding hairline is way above the rim here. LeBron looks…flummoxed.
2) Caruso saves the Lakers in play-in game
Before LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed up in the second half of the Lakers' wild play-in game victory over the Warriors, it was the Bald Eagle who saved the day.
El ¿Auto alley-oop de Caruso? 😂 #GatoradePlayin #dormiresdecobardes pic.twitter.com/AeVC7PFDLG
— NBA Spain (@NBAspain) May 20, 2021
In the first half, Alex put on a mini-CaruShow, leading the otherwise stagnant Lakers with 12 points after subbing in for a struggling Dennis Schroder. In crunch-time, he locked down Stephen Curry, forcing a turnover and getting multiple key stops.
Amazing defense by both Caruso and AD on Curry on this posession. AD with the defensive play of the game. 🔒🔒🔒 pic.twitter.com/nO8B4iViD5
— LakeShowScoop (@LakeShowScoop) May 20, 2021
LeBron credited him afterward: “His attention to detail, just smart, very smart, knows what he wants to do. Always in the right place at the right time. He just makes plays. Some of them show up in the box score, some of them don’t. But tonight, they definitely showed up in the box score. He pretty much carried us in the first half offensively and we just had to match him in the second half.”
“He was awesome all night long,” Vogel added. “Making plays, making shots. Defending his tail off. Made huge plays down the stretch on both sides of the ball…He’s a champion, he’s one of those guys that just moves the needle directly with his play, and immediately.”
1) Starts Game 6 of the Finals
The ultimate culmination of his rise. In the Lakers' biggest game of the season, Frank Vogel tapped Caruso to start Game 6 against the Miami Heat.
“I said ‘I’m ready.’ You know, whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, my whole career has kind of been like that.” Caruso said about learning he was getting the start. “When I was on a two-way contract I’d show up and I didn’t know if I was gonna play that night. I might play zero minutes, I might get thrown in and play 25 minutes. It’s all just about being prepared and staying ready. I think that it really helped me. That helped me prepare for (Game 6), and then the morning of the game, before film session, coach let me know and I didn’t tell anybody back home whenever coach told me because I told them we were supposed to win Game 5 and I’d talk to them whenever we finished it out and we’d celebrate together.”
Caruso had just four points in 32 minutes, but, fittingly, led the Lakers in plus/minus (+20).
Hang his jersey in the rafters and put a statue outside Staples Center.
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