When it comes to soccer, the world remembers Lionel Messi as the best Barcelona player, but seldom will people discuss Dani Alves’ contribution in the same years. It’s an occupational hazard in sports where the scorers take the cake. Similarly, in the NBA, LeBron James will always make headlines for the Lakers’ victory while the bench might not.

Specifically, Alex Caruso is one such Laker who always remains under the radar but performs well. His importance usually goes amiss, just much like the lead character in the Japanese sports manga series, Kuroko’s Basketball. Caruso is surely the Tetsuya Kuroko of the Lakers and here’s why.

Anthony Davis figured out Caruso’s importance

Recently, the Lakers’ big man Anthony Davis learned how Alex Caruso was the silent weapon in their roster. Thanks to veteran Jared Dudley, AD noticed something strange. 

In an interview, AD said, “He’s a smart player… not the highest paid, doesn’t have all the accolades and credentials, and a lot of people don’t notice him, but he plays the right way. He locks up defensively, makes tough shots, scrappy. I saw a stat, Dudz told me after the Detroit game that in our losses he’s a plus 46 in plus-minus or something like that, which just shows that any time you throw him on the floor he’s always in the plus column in plus-minus.” 

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The Lakers lost to the Pistons 92-107 in a heartbreaking manner. In the game, from the players who timed at least 20 minutes on the floor, only Caruso had a positive +/-. This just shows how he is the most efficient rotation player and deserves recognition.

The Lakers have always benefited from having the Bald Mamba around

Alex is just into the fourth season of his career and has averaged somewhere between 5-6 points all through his career. However, these classic figures speak less of his importance than the more advanced ones. In the Lakers’ recent championship run, the 6’4” guard had +3.8 plus-minus and +9.8 net rating. This year, he has bettered those already impressive figures to +6.3 plus-minus and +17.5 in net rating.

AD further added, “He’s playing the right way, he’s affecting the game in a positive way. So for him to be out there in the closing lineup, we fully trust him, and he always comes up and makes big plays just like what you saw tonight at the end of the game.”

He was referring to Caruso’s performance against the Celtics. Even in that game, Caruso recorded the team’s highest +14 in plus-minus mostly because of his amazing defense work even in clutch time.

All of this points towards Frank Vogel’s rising phoenix. Are you a Caruso fan already? 

Read also – Lakers’ Alex Caruso Explains Why Rajon Rondo Turns into Playoff Rondo During the Postseason