Last season, Alex Caruso made it to the NBA Playoffs for the first time in his four-year career. During his debut playoff race with the Los Angeles Lakers, he played in all 21 games and even started game 6 of the NBA finals against the Miami Heat.
Now, Caruso is hungry for more. During a recent appearance on “The Long Shot” with Duncan Robinson and Davis Reid, Caruso talked about how he is looking forward to returning to the postseason and how his playoff experiences have changed his mindset about the regular season:
Going through the playoffs, man … the playoffs are so addictive. It is very fun. It’s really fun to play in the playoffs because, like, everything is intense, everything matters. I’m not saying that the regular season doesn’t matter, but there is definitely the same attention to detail, not the same intensity, not the same ‘do or die’ mentality that you have with the playoffs. Honestly, man, it’s like looking back now, in the regular season, these games are like … I’m like, ‘these are fun, I like to play basketball in the NBA’, sure, but I can’t wait to get back to the playoffs again.
Caruso also said he has a new respect for his former teammate, Rajon Rondo, who has a reputation for coasting in the regular season:
Rondo, one of my favorite teammates because he is such a good guy to compete, he kind of gets a bad reputation because he was hitting or losing in the regular season and I never really understood why, and then you hear the ‘Playoff Rondo ‘thing. You hear it and it really comes and does it. I understand 100% what it is now.
He’s a big competitor. He’s the most competitive person I’ve ever met. He is such a competitor that after so many seasons in the league and playing so many games in the regular season, it is as if all he wanted was to win a championship. It doesn’t matter until you get to the playoffs anyway for him, then, seeing him in his element and then going out and playing like that, gave me a click. It’s like, ‘ok, I understand now.’
There is good news and bad news for Caruso.
The good news is that the Lakers will more than likely be in the playoffs again this season. They are currently third in the Western Conference, 3.5 games ahead of the Denver Nuggets’ number 4 and half a game in first place, the Utah Jazz. Unless something catastrophic, they will have the opportunity to defend the title.
The bad news is that the playoffs only start after three months – 107 days, to be exact. So, until then Caruso will have to remain strong and, most importantly, healthy. When it comes to effort, I think it’s safe to say that we don’t have to worry about AC.
For more Lakers speak, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed at iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.