Los Angeles Lakers: Comparing Alex Caruso to other title role players
By Jason Reed
Unsung hero from the 2009-2010 Los Angeles Lakers: Trevor Ariza
So this is a bit cheating as Trevor Ariza only won one championship with the Los Angeles Lakers and actually was not part of the 2010 title-winning team. However, the 2010 team did not have an unsung hero like Ariza, so he is still the most qualified.
Ariza played just 106 games for the Lakers and on the surface, his numbers may not appear all that impressive. Ariza averaged 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 22.3 minutes per game as a member of the purple and gold.
There are two things that make Ariza the unsung hero. First, he was an elite defensive player off the bench, much like Caruso is for the Lakers today. In fact, Ariza posted the same DPBM in 2008-09 as Caruso is this season (2.2) and had 0.1 lower DPBM the year prior.
The other thing that makes Ariza an unsung hero is how he showed up in the NBA Playoffs. Ariza averaged 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.4 minutes per game in the NBA Playoffs. Ariza scored in double figures in the last three NBA Finals games against Orlando.
Everyone thinks about Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, not the Sixth Man, Trevor Ariza.