Alex Caruso Uses James Harden, Kyrie Irving to Explain How Tough Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Is to Guard

Alex Caruso has long been regarded as a standout perimeter defender. After going undrafted, the Texas A&M product wasn’t expected to make a huge impact when he entered the NBA in 2017. But after two years of doing the little things with an inconsistent role, Caruso rose to prominence as a key piece of the LA Lakers’ 2020 title. He continued to grow as a player with the Chicago Bulls, where he added two All-Defensive nods to his resume before being traded to the contending Oklahoma City Thunder last season.

While he did play alongside future Hall of Famers LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Caruso hadn’t paired with a truly dominant isolation scorer until he joined the Thunder. Caruso also played with gifted bucket-getters Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan in Chicago, but neither of them match the scoring prowess of reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

SGA has been an effective three-level scorer for quite some time but took his game to new heights while leading the Thunder to their first championship in franchise history. During his recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, the pesky combo guard was asked what it’s like to guard his superstar teammate.

“Difficult, very difficult,” Caruso responded immediately. “Thankfully, I didn’t have to this year.” When Patrick asked the eight-year veteran if he could compare the experience to guarding another superstar, a pair of future Hall of Famers came to Caruso’s mind.

“He’s a pretty unique guy,” Caruso said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think some of how James Harden was his MVP year. Obviously, [SGA’s] not shooting threes like James, and I think a lot of that helped him kind of get downhill. But his ability to just get by people and the length he has to finish and shoot in the mid-range is a little bit like James in his MVP years.”

“But then he works really well off the body too, like Kyrie. Like, he has a little bit of mid-range Kyrie package and then finishing left, right,” Caruso continued. “That reminds me a lot of those two guys.”

Now a two-time NBA champion, Alex Caruso has established himself as a proven winner at every stop. At 31, he seems to have found a long-term fit in Oklahoma City, though, a team poised to contend for years. Often assigned to guard the opposing team’s top perimeter threat, it’s easy to see why Caruso is thrilled to continue to share the court with the NBA MVP.