As usual, I had a reason for not putting “Career High” in the title of this video (I don’t just forget about things as important as a role-player’s career high). Yes, it’s true: 16 points are the most points Alex Caruso has ever scored in a game. Not just in the NBA, but in college (high of 13 points) and high school (high of 7 points to go with 33 assists) too. Don’t bother fact-checking me on this one, I already have a signed and notarized certificate from Snopes that says that my fact is factual and correct.
My reasoning is this: the Lakers, if they are not already tanking, are going to start tanking really soon. They’re already limiting LeBron, even if his full shutdown process takes a few weeks (longer because he entered “playoff mode”, and there’s only a month left in the season. The playoff hopes that once barely existed now exist only in the minds of Lakers fans who still think it’s 2009. And with the Lakers tanking comes big minutes for Caruso. They might not have Lonzo Ball right now, but Caruso is basically the white Lonzo with a better layup rating. I can see him scoring 20 before the season is out, but he’ll have to find someone other than LeBron to find him cutting to the basket.
This is the second straight nationally televised Lakers game where Caruso has, as the young’uns say, “showed out”. First he tied his career high 15, and now he’s broken it. These are by far the two best games of the season for him, but the casual fan is now under the impression that he is some sort of uber-role-player who is a big part of the Lakers plans going forward. And if you only watch the highlight videos I made for him, maybe you’ll come away with the same impression. And is it even that incorrect? Yes, but also kinda no.