Los Angeles Lakers reserve guard Alex Caruso is all about winning a title with his team this season.
He proved that recently with a huge decision.
Caruso’s older sister Megan had a wedding scheduled for July 18 in Austin, Texas. Despite the event being a 100-plus-person celebration, the younger Caruso was excited to attend.
“Megan is as close to my No. 1 fan as anyone could get,” he told ESPN this week.
However, as the event drew closer, and the younger Caruso still in the NBA’s strict bubble in Orlando, Fla., he began to learn that his quarantine period upon re-entry into the bubble would’ve likely been around 10 days.
“As the wedding approached and the coronavirus situation in Texas worsened, Lakers officials in talks with NBA staff relayed to Caruso that his quarantine period would likely approach that 10-day threshold, he said,” wrote Zach Lowe of ESPN.
“Caruso and others involved understood that the guidelines mentioned the possibility of 14-day quarantines, though it is unclear what scenario (if any) would trigger a quarantine of that length. (The 14 days appear intended to be reserved for unexcused exits.) Caruso knew that given the Lakers’ title hopes, he would exercise extreme caution upon returning.”
To help aid his decision, the younger Caruso gathered the opinions of teammates Anthony Davis and LeBron James to make sure they were okay with him attending the wedding.
“They supported my decision either way,” the younger Caruso said. “They also helped me realize how important I am to what we are trying to do here, now that [Avery Bradley] didn’t make it and [Rajon Rondo] hurt his hand. There is some added responsibility.”
The guard was prepared to pay for private flights from Orlando to Austin and back, but he learned shortly after that there was not a “safe house” available in the Austin area, where he could house after leaving the ceremony.
As a result, two days before the wedding, the younger Caruso decided to skip the wedding and spend his downtime over the weekend watching footage of it in his room.
With the absences of Bradley and Rondo, the 26-year-old knows just how important he is to the Lakers’ playoff hopes this season. His high energy and perimeter defense will be counted on in tight games in the postseason, and he is likely to earn a bulk of minutes for the rest of the 2019-20 season.
