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Antonio Daniels: It can't be a situation where you're allowing Lu Dort and you're allowing Cason Wallace and you're allowing Alex Caruso and some of these other guys to get extremely physical with the stars of the opposing team. But the moment that that physicality is put back toward the Oklahoma City Thunder when they're on the offensive end, now you get a softer whistle.
Oh No He Didn't: Devin Booker on the offensive foul: "Caruso is moving forward on that and if that's an unnatural shooting motion compared to what guys are doing to get fouls nowadays, like you can play them side by side and I'll let you guys be the judge. Pull the clips, run it back. I'm surprised this is happening on national TV in playoff games"
Devin Booker on the offensive foul:
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) April 23, 2026
"Caruso is moving forward on that and if that's an unnatural shooting motion compared to what guys are doing to get fouls nowadays, like you can play them side by side and I'll let you guys be the judge. Pull the clips, run it back. I'm… pic.twitter.com/F5zzbCMsRV
Justin Martinez: Asked Alex Caruso how special playoff basketball is: “It’s great. This is what I kind of live for. You can get lost in the shuffle of the regular season just with the monotony of the schedule and just how much of a marathon it is, but it’s a different kind of beast. It’s very high-stress. It’s very high-focused. It’s a details game. It’s a commitment-to-suffering game. And I think that’s something throughout my career that I’ve been able to hone in on and play towards. This time of year really kind of brings that out.”
Josh Lewenberg: Jamal Shead told me he credits fellow Texan Alex Caruso for his iron man mentality: "Dependability and availability are really big in this league when you're trying to make a difference. You never know what night could be your night, so try to show up every night... I got that from him"
Mark praised you for how you communicate with the guys on and off the court. What has been your messaging? Caruso: “It’s not really like a message. But different times throughout the year, there are different things that I think I’ve worked on as a pro, just as far as perspective and being present and understanding situations and being able to step out and look at something and analyze and then be back in the moment. A lot of times, young guys can’t do that just due to lack of experience and not being in those moments and situations. I’ve been through a bunch of different ones, some crazy ones and some pretty normal NBA stuff. So I’m trying to keep their minds occupied and focused. Through this course of the season, you can hit lulls and get distracted.”
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You’ve been a prized defender for a while. But I looked up your tracking data with some of the matchups against [Kevin] Durant (2-for-6), Luka Dončić (0-for-2) and De’Aaron Fox (0-for-2). What did you do to pull that off against those players? Caruso: “Small samples. There used to be bigger samples when I was in Chicago and was playing a lot more on-ball as the main defender. But it’s the attention to detail. It’s competitiveness. You’re chasing greatness. Anytime you’re playing against guys that are All-NBA , Hall-of-Fame potential guys, you relish the moments to play against them. You’re going to be able to tell people down the road that you competed and played against them. I guess we have YouTube and film now, so we can show them. But just being able to talk about battling against guys like that, that’s going to be something that carries with you forever. Then it’s also about being super competitive. I want to win. I want to stand toe-to-toe with them and give it my best shot and see how many times I come out on top.”
He gets that whole ‘free-throw merchant’ tag. But he does a lot of things to create those opportunities. What does he do so well with that? Caruso: “Yeah, he leads the league in drives. He’s the top-2 in the league in drives with Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. He’s really difficult to guard. He’s shifty. He’s long. He’s athletic. His body control is elite. He can make a shot from anywhere on three levels. There’s no solution that you can just point to and say, ‘Okay, that’s how we stop him tonight.’ I think that’s probably what makes him dangerous.”
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Justin Martinez: Here's OKC's injury report for its home game against the LA Lakers tomorrow: Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein are back after missing the last game due to injury management. Alex Caruso is questionable due to an illness.
Brandon Rahbar: Alex Caruso on SGA: “He’s reigning MVP, first team All NBA, best guard in the world for a reason. When he has that look and mindset to will yourself to wins, it’s a great thing to witness.”
Justin Martinez: Alex Caruso is also back after a two-game absence due to a left hip contusion. Apologies!
