Is Alex Caruso the Thunder’s Secret Weapon to NBA Glory in 2025?

Ever notice Alex Caruso’s pinky on his right hand? It’s not your garden-variety pinky—there’s this pronounced lump near the middle knuckle, like a tiny marble lodged beneath the skin. If you’ve caught Caruso weaving his way around the court, diving and hustling like a whirlwind, you probably won’t be shocked that this odd bump comes courtesy of his relentless physical play. But here’s the kicker: the injury that left this scar of battle actually happened way back when he was barely out of grade school. Yeah, the same tenacity and wild energy we cheer on now? That’s been Caruso’s heartbeat since the sandbox days. From humble pick-up games in Texas to electrifying the NBA Finals with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his evolution from scrappy newcomer to cerebral game-changer is a story of grit, growth, and a whole lot of hustle. Curious how this once-undrafted underdog became a defensive maestro on the biggest stage? Stick around, because this tale’s got layers. LEARN MORETwo days later, the Thunder were back on the floor, and this time Caruso decided he was going to take matters into his own hands. He was everywhere, swarming ball-handlers and blowing up screens and flying up and down the court and draining 3s. He finished with 20 points — a mark he never hit during the regular season — in 27 minutes of action off the bench, including four 3s, propelling Oklahoma City to victory.“I remember when he first started playing with us,” recalled Jason Bullard, a medical equipment salesman who was part of a group of 30- and 40-year-olds from the College Station, Texas area, with whom Caruso played pick-up with while in middle school. “He’d run around, guard everybody, take the ball and go, and just create all sorts of chaos,” Bullard added. “Some guys would even get annoyed. It’d be like, ‘Who’s this little kid running around trying to steal the ball from us every time?”Advertisement

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“I remember very specifically having those conversations with LeBron, [Rajon] Rondo and the other older guys during that run,” Caruso said. “And their basic message was, ‘We’re going to go back and watch film and we’ll see that we messed up game plan stuff, and that’s all easy to fix.” And so here he was, sitting in a cold tub following a Game 1 playoff loss five years later, ready to impart the same lesson.Holmgren smiled as he contemplated how to respond.(James Pawelczyk/Yahoo Sports Illustration)Advertisement