Just like every other player LeBron James has played with or faced, Alex Caruso is in awe of the Lakers superstar’s basketball IQ.
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It goes without saying that LeBron James is one of the brainiest guys to ever take the basketball court. He might be 6’9″, 260 pounds today, but his mind is probably a bigger basketball weapon than his body – and that’s saying quite something when you see him in real life.
Bron was legitimately the NBA’s freakiest athlete for well over a decade in addition to being the smartest! When you think about how bonkers that combination is, you piece together how exactly he’s played in 10 NBA Finals.
His memory for defensive sequences and plays made him perhaps the league’s most impactful defender at certain points. And LeBron James makes sure that his task is simplified by passing his vast knowledge and memory onto his teammates and coaches.
Alex Caruso has been one of the benefactors of this treatment. The Chicago Bulls guard credits LeBron James and Rajon Rondo with improving his feel for the game defensively.
Alex Caruso on What He Learned From LeBron James That He Took With Him To Chicago
Alex Caruso was recently a guest on JJ Redick’s ‘The Old Man and the Three’ podcast. The former Lakers fan favorite and current Bulls player has been a crucial part of Chicago’s 2021-22 turnaround.
He’s bolstered the Bulls’ point-of-attack defense to a point basically as good as their 2010s peak under Tom Thibodeau. He has a very high defensive IQ, and he put forth a good explanation to the sniper about what kind of instincts he deploys as a defender.
The conversation then went inevitably to LeBron James and how Alex Caruso has benefited from his influence. The Texas guard gave credit to both of them – probably the 2 smartest NBA players today:
“Rondo and LeBron – they’re just so smart, and you see how they operate for a couple of years. And seeing how they would communicate and think and point and tell people where to go before stuff happened. I’ve tried to take a little bit of that with me.”