Los Angeles Lakers: Comparing Alex Caruso to other title role players
By Jason Reed
Alex Caruso is getting a lot of love from the national NBA media right now as he is playing really good basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers. I am glad that the rest of the basketball world is finally catching up, as Laker fans know just how good Caruso is.
Lake Show Life has been a pioneer on the Alex Caruso. Our own Luca De Angelis told readers months ago that Caruso is more than just a meme and if you listen to the Lake Show Life Podcast then you know just how much we love Caruso.
Caruso became underrated to the national NBA audience because of how much he as promoted on social media simply because he does not look like a regular NBA player. I cannot blame any non-Laker fan for getting sick of Caruso getting more coverage than their favorite player.
This did not represent the fact that Caruso is a legitimate elite defensive player. Caruso has the 13th-best Defensive Box Plus/Minus in the NBA with the fifth-best DPBM of all NBA guards. He has the third-best defensive rating amongst guards.
Caruso is not a superstar and he is essentially a one-and-a-half-way player as he is elite defensively but is not a huge threat. However, his impact on this team in the rotation is massive and he really is the definition of an unsung hero.
Alex Caruso is not the first role player like this on the Los Angeles Lakers
Big-name role players like Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope often get more love and the same can be said about previous Lakers’ championship teams as well. In fact, there have been role players just like Caruso on previous title-winning Lakers teams that compare great to Caruso.
These players don’t necessarily play the same position and do not have to have the same play style as Caruso. These are simply the unsung role players from previous Lakers title-winning teams that do not get the credit that they deserve.