Getty Images LeBron James and Alex Caruso of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Alex Caruso may no longer be sporting purple and gold but he’s still in the good graces of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Caruso recently put out a post on Instagram shaking the hand of Benny the Bull and sporting his Chicago No. 6 jersey.
“New year, new threads,” Caruso wrote.
James could be found in the comments with a message for his former teammate.
“My twin. I need that 6 jersey ASAP,” James wrote with a goat emoji, his nickname for Caruso. ”
LeBron on Alex Caruso’s IG post. 6️⃣
Caruso came a long way while with the Lakers, going from a fringe G-League player to becoming a key piece of LA’s rotation, even starting the clinching game of the NBA Finals game.
LeBron James Loved Alex Caruso’s Basketball IQ
Caruso and James formed a solid bond, with James often calling him GOAT — an acronym for greatest of all time. But it went beyond just playful nicknames. James loved what Caruso brought to the table.
“When you try to play high-level basketball, you’ve got to have high-IQ players, and he’s one of them. And not only does he have a high-level IQ, he also plays with high energy, and we know what we’re going to get out of him every night,” James said in 2020 during the Lakers’ title run. “It’s not about him making shots. But we know he’s going to defend and he’s going to play at the level that he’s capable of playing at. We all know that once he checks into the game every single night, so we know what to expect out of him. And to be honest, when he makes shots it’s extra credit for us, but he puts that work in on his offensive skill set to get better and better, and we love everything about him.”
Lakers Wanted to Keep Alex Caruso
The Lakers made it no secret that they wanted to keep Caurso this offseason but it didn’t work out with Chicago swooping in offering him a four-year, $37 million deal.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported that Caruso was even willing to return for less money, but even with that, the Lakers would have dug even further into the luxury tax to retain him.
“We made an aggressive attempt to re-sign Alex Caruso, and we made an aggressive attempt to keep Talen,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said on Thursday. “That’s the thing with unrestricted free agency is that you can be in the mix, but players control the ultimate choice.
“Alex was tremendous here as a championship player, and we’ll be forever grateful for his contributions and his growth,” Pelinka added. “Seeing him go from a G Leaguer, to a two-way (player), to an elite player was something we’ll always be proud of. But he had choices and he chose another team. We pursued him and wanted to keep him, same with Talen, and obviously came to a deal with Talen, and Alex moved on.”
The Lakers will face the Bulls twice next season, with Caruso’s LA return coming on November 15.