OKC Thunder’s Alex Caruso Offers Up High Praise For Superstar Teammate

Oklahoma City made an unexpected splash this summer by acquiring Alex Caruso in a trade. Josh Giddey struggled a season ago, but it certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Giddey would’ve been traded. It turns out the move was best for both parties, as Caruso has been an impeccable fit with the Thunder.

The stats may not paint the full picture, but Caruso’s impact on both ends of the floor — specifically on defense — has been priceless. He’s a true professional with championship experience and Oklahoma City has been a better team with him on the court.

With his championship experience, he has also played with a handful of champion-level teammates too. Caruso knows what it takes to win at the highest level and has shared the floor with some of the best players to ever do it — like LeBron James. Now he has teamed up with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and has gotten an inside look at how he carries himself as a professional.

It’s no surprise that when Caruso went on The Young Man and the Three Podcast, he raves about Gilgeous-Alexander as a player.

"He might not ever come out and say it publicly, but the dude competes... He thinks it's a blessing to go out there and play basketball every night."

Alex Caruso on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 🗣️

(via @OldManAndThree)pic.twitter.com/vKCiRJDPBR
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 6, 2025

“I thought watching him and Luka play last year, if one of them would’ve won (MVP), I would’ve been like ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ So coming into this year, I knew that he was going to be ready to go,” Caruso said. “But like getting to know him, now knowing how competitive he is, I could see the type of season he’s having is like — he might not ever come out and say it publicly, but the dude competes and he wants to compete every night. Like he thinks it’s a blessing to be able to go out there and play basketball every night.”

“And so, seeing him in person and how effortless he makes it look like… he’s one of those guys in the league where it’s like you look up at the end of the third quarter and say ‘Oh shoot, he’s got 32, seven and six. Three steals and a block.’ And it’s like I thought he was having an average game, nothing crazy. It’s just like routine, and that’s when you really get into the superstar category. It looks easy and you’re putting up crazy numbers — and it affects winning.”

Gilgeous-Alexander has impacted winning since he landed in Oklahoma City, but there's no better example than this season. He leads the league in points per game at 32.8 and plus-minus, as Oklahoma City is 12.6 points in the positive when he's on the floor.

Caruso's sentiment about Gilgeous-Alexander wanting to compete every single night is true, too. He has played in 61 of Oklahoma City's 62 games and has been open about wanting to play every game he can. He's a basketball junkie, and his teammates have picked up on it.

It's no wonder Gilgeous-Alexander is highly respected across the league. Caruso saw how impressive SGA was from afar, and walked away even more dazzled as a teammate.

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