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Alex Caruso Gets Brutally Honest About Lakers

Alex Caruso Gets Brutally Honest About Lakers

Alex Caruso played an instrumental role in the Los Angeles Lakers’ march to their 17th championship in franchise history. Between his smart offense and dedicated defense, the 26-year-old forever cemented himself as a fan favorite.

This week, Caruso appeared on the “Old Man and the Three” podcast with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter and got brutally honest about this year’s run to a title.

“After we won the first game against the Clippers in the bubble, I think the human nature of, ‘Alright, we locked up the No. 1 seed, we’re going to rest some guys, we’re going to make sure we’re all healthy going in.’

“But for me, I’m a play every game, play every minute the same way kind of guy. For me, on the inside, I was having some anxiety. I was just like, ‘Come on guys. Can we get it going?’ I remember having that conversation with myself. I was like, ‘I hope we can turn it on,’” he said.

That said, having LeBron James on his team went some ways in ensuring that Caruso’s confidence didn’t waiver too much.

“Then I was like, ‘I’m not going to bet against the No. 23 on my team to be ready to go.’ There was a little bit — on my part, at least — a little hesitation like, ‘Are we going to be ready to play?’ I think you even saw that when we came out a little flat against the Blazers in our first game,” Caruso continued.

“Same thing with Houston. We had a couple days off as the other teams finished their series. … It was an interesting dynamic. Just to go back and forth with myself like, ‘I know we’re a good team and we can get this done, but when are we going to start the engine?’ Game by game we kept getting better and better and better throughout the playoffs.”

During the same interview, Caruso also revealed that he considers James the greatest of all time.

“I was a huge MJ fan, that was like the mythical I never seen play,” he said. I don’t know when my mind changed, but it has to be around year 6, 7, 8 for LeBron, and I said yeah, this dude has to be the GOAT.”

The Lakers’ path to a championship was not an easy one. It was filled major loss, deep emotional struggles, a global pandemic and a lot of doubt. But despite it all, the team was able to come together when it mattered most and deliver on the biggest stage of all.

Why?

Because of players like Caruso, James and the rest of the group who refused to quit even when it was the easiest thing in the world to do.

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Charles Kruger

Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7's go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.

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