There were a ton of storylines to follow in the Los Angeles Lakers' epic 2020 championship run. One of the more interesting narratives from last season in LA was that of third-year guard Alex Caruso. The 26 year old shared his journey from the G-League all the way to making it to his first-ever NBA Finals start in 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 when asked what his initial reactions were to him being pushed to the starting line-up ahead of Game 6 (via silverscreenandroll.com). “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.”

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Caruso and the rest of the Lakers did end up celebrating after Game 6 as the Purple & Gold ended up with a 106-93 win over the Miami Heat and bring home banner number 17. He ended up playing a career playoff high of 32 minutes and logged in a +20 in his first ever NBA playoff start that day.

It's been a roller coaster ride for Caruso so far in the NBA. From being undrafted in 2016 to playing for multiple G-League teams to finally earning his minutes under head coach Frank Vogel. Now that the “Carushow” is officially set in Hollywood, look for Caruso to build on this and be a key weapon for the Lakers as they try to make it back-to-back in 2021.