“Don’t Even Want To Call Him A Role Player”: Kevin Durant Refuses To ‘Relegate’ Alex Caruso’s Role On The Bulls Following Suns Win

The NBA just witnessed a nail-biter between the Phoenix Suns and the Chicago Bulls. The contest which went to overtime, ended with a score of 115-116 in favor of the Suns. The 12th-place Bulls put up a great fight against the heavy favorites. Chicago also witnessed a clutch performance from Alex Caruso.

Caruso who had 19 points, four rebounds, and two assists was definitely a standout during the game. Even Kevin Durant during his press conference had words of praise for the Bulls guard,

“He’s a phenomenal player. I don’t even want to call him a role player. But just a guy that you can plug with any lineup and he’s going to make the right reads, the right plays on the defensive and offensive side.”

 

Caruso and the Bulls had chances throughout the game where they could have taken over. Caruso himself had some impressive moments during the match. He began the game by making three back-to-back threes to bring the Bulls back in the game during the first. Though Caruso was relatively silent in the second quarter, he did manage to make a critical rebound against KD which gave them their first lead of the game. Caruso would once again dazzle the crowd as he made another game-tying layup with less than four minutes left.

Alex gives his insight on guarding KD

Alex Caruso had a solid game against the Suns but was still handed the loss by KD. Caruso who guarded KD for moments throughout the game, gave insight on what it took to guard someone like KD. He did so during the post-game press conference, telling the media,

“If you told young Alex Caruso he’d get to guard Kevin Durant one-on-one for a game, he would’ve been pretty excited. Probably a little scared, but pretty excited.”

Though not the technical analysis many were expecting, Caruso’s words paint a picture of KD’s dominance on the court. But Caruso himself isn’t doing so badly. After parting ways with the Lakers, NBA Twitter now believes that the Lakers might have fumbled the bag.

A Twitter account by the name @josh2saint said ” Trading away KCP and letting Alex Caruso walk cost the Lakers another championship IMO .”

Another Twitter account by the name of Mark Jackson’s Burner said ” Alex Caruso just clamped up Kevin Durant for 5 minutes straight Meanwhile the Lakers backcourt D Lo and Austin Reaves can’t guard a parked car .”

Alex Caruso’s recent performance has brought attention back to the 2020 NBA Champion. Even with impressive performances like today’s, the Bulls can’t capitalize on their talent. The Bulls who currently sitting at the 12th spot of the Eastern Conference, don’t seem to have any Championship aspirations this season. For role players like Caruso, such situations tend to be wasteful, as the Bulls have even failed to remain healthy. As the Bulls wait for Lonzo Ball to recover fully, it would be interesting to see how the Bulls adjust their goals for the season.