'Always competitively present': Alex Caruso's journey from G League to veteran leader

ALEX CARUSO FIRST arrived successful Oklahoma City with a caput afloat of hairsbreadth and flickering hopes of an NBA career.

It was September 2016, and the Thunder had invited Caruso to a tryout for an Exhibit 10 declaration -- an accidental for a $50,000 bonus and a roster spot with the G League affiliate Oklahoma City Blue.

He was 1 of six players astatine the workout, but unbeknownst to Caruso, helium was the lone 1 that Oklahoma City's absorption and coaches truly wanted to watch.

Then-Blue manager Mark Daigneault, who was connected the Florida coaching unit earlier Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti poached him, already had an appreciation for Caruso's relentless competitiveness dating to his assemblage days astatine Texas A&M. Caruso played truthful hard during the 2nd fractional of a blowout nonaccomplishment to Florida that Daigneault wondered whether helium knew the score.

As Daigneault recalled, the different guys astatine the tryout were "respectfully, not professional-level hoops players." But Caruso inactive managed to marque a lasting impression.

"He rapidly figured retired they had nary hint what was going on," Daigneault, present successful his 5th play arsenic the Thunder's caput coach, told ESPN recently. "By midway done the workout, he's coaching the workout. He's doing what helium does."

Caruso claimed 1 of the Blue's last roster spots that afternoon, earning a $13,000 wage to travel his signing bonus. And for 1 season, helium emerged arsenic a fiery person for the Blue, starting astatine constituent defender for a squad that went 34-16 and precocious to the 2nd circular of the G League playoffs.

Caruso credits that play to gathering his cardinal base, which was captious successful carving retired his niche successful the NBA arsenic a antiaircraft stalwart who earned a title ringing with the Los Angeles Lakers a fewer years later. He returned to Oklahoma City this play arsenic the "old head" connected 1 of the league's youngest, astir talented teams. Eight years aft coaching up workout fillers, bussed successful from Tulsa, Caruso instantly emerged arsenic a seasoned person whose dependable has helped usher the Thunder arsenic they stride toward their title potential. And aft a last-second comeback from the Indiana Pacers successful Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the stakes couldn't beryllium higher successful Game 2 (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC) arsenic Caruso and the Thunder look to adjacent the bid astatine home.

But Caruso admits his play successful the G League was a frustrating one. He kept his caput down arsenic Blue teammates got NBA call-ups implicit him. He was besides passed implicit for a two-way declaration contempt the backing of Daigneault and then-Blue GM Brandon Barnett, present the Thunder's manager of pro personnel.

"[Presti] admitted to me," Caruso told ESPN successful his emblematic adust wit, "that helium got that 1 wrong."

CARUSO LEFT OKLAHOMA City for Los Angeles erstwhile his declaration expired astatine the extremity of the 2017 season, yet parlaying a summertime league woody into a two-way declaration wrong a fewer years and filling a captious relation arsenic a defensive-minded reserve connected the Lakers' 2019-20 title team. After the Lakers declined to bid against the Bulls' four-year, $37 cardinal connection -- different lawsuit of undervaluing Caruso -- helium went to Chicago successful the summertime of 2021 and earned a brace of All-Defensive selections implicit the adjacent fewer seasons.

Presti yet righted his incorrect by trading for Caruso past summer.

Caruso's vocation had travel afloat ellipse backmost to Oklahoma City, wherever helium returned arsenic the imaginable finishing portion of the Thunder's title puzzle -- the quintessential defensive-minded seasoned relation subordinate and violative connector who has acquisition enhancing superstar teammates.

His interaction goes acold beyond the container score.

"It's been awesome having him backmost around," Daigneault said. "I emotion coaching him. I loved coaching him backmost then. But what's breathtaking is present it's much astir the aboriginal than it is astir the past. As overmuch past arsenic we have, we person a batch of runway unneurotic moving guardant here."

The summation of Caruso, arsenic good arsenic halfway Isaiah Hartenstein successful escaped agency, helped elevate the Thunder from contender to rubric favourite this season. With Oklahoma City's young core, which features MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, All-Star helping Jalen Williams and erstwhile No. 2 prime Chet Holmgren, Caruso profiled arsenic a cleanable acceptable arsenic 1 of the league's astir disruptive defenders and an violative connector who has acquisition enhancing superstar teammates.

"Immediately, I thought it was going to beryllium a large matrimony conscionable from the standpoint of the worldly that I bash and the worldly that astatine slightest it seemed similar the squad needed," Caruso said. "And I person a spot of ego and pridefulness with conscionable the thought of anyplace I go, I deliberation I'm going to win."

And past determination were intangibles that Caruso, who turned 31 successful February, could supply for a squad that is the 2nd youngest to scope the NBA Finals successful the changeable timepiece era.

"He's a colossal competitor, and we privation to person arsenic galore of those guys arsenic we tin successful the building," Presti said successful his quality league aft the trade. "Specifically, I deliberation it helps elevate the full radical if you tin person those types of brains, and we truly wanted the bosom and the caput successful the building."

CARUSO'S ROLE ON the tribunal varies from crippled to game, adjacent 4th to quarter. In the playoffs, that has meant stints arsenic the superior defender connected a spectrum of opposing stars, from Memphis Grizzlies speedy constituent defender Ja Morant to 6-foot-11, 284-pound Denver Nuggets large antheral Nikola Jokic.

"It's a batch of amusive due to the fact that he's a huffy idiosyncratic genius that likes to tweak and maneuver and find little, infinitesimal details and disciplines that you tin exploit," Caruso said of Daigneault.

His statistical production, peculiarly connected the violative end, seldom stands out. He has vocation averages of 6.9 points and 2.8 assists and has averaged treble figures successful scoring lone erstwhile (10.1 points for the Bulls successful 2023-24). But helium demands attraction connected the tribunal owed to his relentless vigor and antiaircraft disruption.

His Game 7 enactment against Jokic, a three-time MVP, is the astir salient illustration from this playoff run. It was a maneuver that the Thunder sprinkled successful passim the series, aggressively fronting Jokic with assistance swarming down him. But Daigneault knew it was "not sustainable physically" for Caruso to person astir a 100-pound value disadvantage against his superior antiaircraft matchup passim a seven-game series. For 1 game?

"Let's spell to this aboriginal and spot however it goes," Daigneault said. "And past it was similar wildfire."

According to GeniusIQ tracking, Caruso defended Jokic for 40 half-court matchups that afternoon, the astir by a defender successful immoderate of the 839 regular-season and playoff games successful Jokic's career. Caruso gave up lone 0.78 points per play, arsenic Jokic finished with arsenic galore turnovers (five) arsenic tract goals portion attempting lone 9 shots from the floor.

As overmuch hellhole arsenic Caruso raises defensively, Daigneault tells radical to ticker him during dormant balls to get a existent appreciation. He's perpetually doing thing with a purpose, arsenic his eyes dart from the scoreboard to coaches and teammates, and occasionally the officials. He communicates without dominating the conversation, barking retired what Daigneault refers to arsenic "filler lines" to support absorption connected priorities portion prodding his teammates to talk.

"He's perpetually filling the abstraction with that benignant of stuff, which successful a mode allows abstraction for different radical to inactive exist," Daigneault said. "Sometimes you get a seasoned subordinate and they consciousness similar they person to beryllium the veteran. They're holding tribunal and it tin truly suffocate the oxygen of everybody else. He has an unbelievable feel. I don't adjacent cognize if helium does it consciously, but he's got a large consciousness for being capable to get his points in, beryllium precise changeless with his communication, but successful a mode that isn't claustrophobic.

"There's ne'er drifting. He's ever competitively present."

CASON WALLACE, THE Thunder's 21-year-old second-year guard, took large glee successful pointing retired that Caruso is "the archetypal bald teammate I've ever had."

"That's precocious connected my database of accomplishments," Caruso quipped.

Caruso is the oldest subordinate connected a Thunder roster whose mean property is 24.5, and he's reminded of that often arsenic a accordant root of comedic fodder for his teammates.

"It's ever that, which is insane due to the fact that I person galore years to spell successful the NBA," said Caruso, who signed a four-year, $81 cardinal declaration hold successful December, the soonest the Thunder were allowed to connection it to him.

Caruso considers sarcasm a signifier of affection, truthful helium gladly accepts the ribbing. It was besides a precedence for Caruso to found spot successful the Thunder's locker room, not conscionable a know-it-all veteran

Out of respect for his caller teammates' pedigrees and erstwhile accomplishments, Caruso attempted to easiness his mode into becoming a salient dependable wrong the team. He felt that helium needed to gain "sweat equity" earlier becoming a large presence. Not that his teammates oregon coaches noticed immoderate hesitancy.

"His mentation of cautious is inactive beauteous verbal," Daigneault said.

But Caruso ne'er had to enforce connected his Thunder teammates. They wanted to soak up the contented of the lone subordinate connected the roster who owns an NBA title ring.

He's taken a peculiar involvement successful the antiaircraft improvement of Wallace, an elite jock whose prowess guarding connected shot reminds Caruso of Avery Bradley, his erstwhile Lakers teammate.

Caruso had tried to thatch Wallace the details of becoming a ascendant unit connected that extremity of the level -- knowing each method instrumentality and tendencies of each opposing player.

"Not arrogantly, but he's conscionable like, 'I'm conscionable going to spell defender the guy,'" Caruso said with a chuckle. "For him, it's conscionable that binary wherever it's like, 'It doesn't substance if helium likes to spell near oregon right. I'm going to defender him, and if helium puts the shot successful beforehand of me, I'm going to instrumentality it.' And I was like, 'Alright, yeah, that works. Let's sprinkle successful a small spot of the intelligence broadside of the game, too.'"

Daigneault jokes that Caruso's lessons volition descend successful astir the clip that "Cason gets immoderate hairsbreadth connected his chest." Whether helium implements it instantly oregon not, Wallace welcomes the input now.

"Whatever helium sees, helium says," Wallace told ESPN. "He's going to talk his mind. You tin besides archer him worldly arsenic well. We're each bully astatine listening to each other. That started connected time one."

Soon aft joining the Thunder, Caruso ended up taking the pb successful the informal meetings the players person each fewer weeks astatine the team's signifier facility.

"We didn't truly person this hump helium needed to get over," Williams told ESPN. "We were acceptable to perceive to him. We recognize wherefore Sam brought him in.

"He's idiosyncratic that we trust. We telephone him 'old head' and stuff, but his acquisition from being successful the G to now, we truly clasp that dear. Our squad is truly receptive to him and what helium has to say. He ever says the close thing, which makes america adjacent much inclined to perceive to him. Obviously, helium does the close worldly connected the court, too."

Caruso's committedness to the squad is besides evident successful his patience disconnected the bench, ne'er complaining contempt averaging lone 19.2 minutes per game, his fewest since 2019-20, which was his archetypal play connected a modular NBA contract.

Caruso understood the developmental benefits of giving minutes to Wallace and rookie defender Ajay Mitchell, among different young players, particularly erstwhile the Thunder were nursing large leads during their march to a franchise-record 68 wins. In those instances, Caruso contributed arsenic an hold of the coaching unit connected the bench.

"You ne'er question his intentions arsenic a rival oregon arsenic a squad feline -- ever," said Daigneault, who refers to Caruso arsenic a "warm-weather player," meaning his worth peaks during the playoffs.

Now, successful the playoffs, with the Thunder successful the Finals for the archetypal clip since 2012, Caruso's interaction is champion summed up with 1 stat. Oklahoma City has outscored opponents by 16 points per 100 possessions with Caruso connected the floor, a nett standing that ranks 2nd successful the league down Wallace among players who person logged astatine slightest 225 minutes this postseason.

Down 0-1 successful the Finals aft a Pacers comeback, the Thunder volition surely look to their seasoned antiaircraft person to assistance usher this young squad to play a afloat 48-minute game.

"There's ne'er a selfish oregon a noncompetitive infinitesimal that helium has, and truthful it conscionable gives him this precise beardown platform," Daigneault said.

"He had that adjacent erstwhile helium was younger than everybody connected his team. Now he's older than everybody connected his team."