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Alex Caruso Reveals That Lakers Didn’t Want To Match Bulls This Offseason: “They Said No.”

Alex Caruso is not necessarily a household name, but over the years, he has gotten a lot of media attention while becoming a fan favorite for the Los Angeles Lakers. As fans made him a target of memes, Caruso has shown that that he’s actually more than that.

A meme disguised as a solid role player, Caruso has established a good reputation on the defensive side of the ball which earned him minutes for the Lakers despite his hardly impressive box score numbers. His off-ball capabilities, ability to steal rebounds and grab loose balls have also allowed him to become an impactful player on the hardwood.

Caruso now was guest on JJ Redick’s ‘the old man and the three’ podcast and talked about his offseason. He was was asked about why he left the Los Angeles Lakers for the Chicago Bulls, and very honestly spoke about his difficult situation during free agency, that eventually led to him signing in Chicago, also due to the Lakers not wanting to pay him.

“Going into it, I really didn’t know what to expect. And I really didn’t hear much from any team including the Lakers leading up to 6 pm central, when I was at my parents’ house. And then they called, Lakers made their offer. It wasn’t an offer I was going to accept because I was going to be able to get more money. Considerably more money from another team. 

And like we just said, a guy that not had a lot of decision making power fought for a job… Essentially, 32 teams told me they didn’t think I was good enough to play in the NBA for two years, three years. I need to get as much money – this is real life we’re talking about. I need to financially secure for me, for people…

…So, we got that offer, went back to LA, asked if they could do the same, they said no. Asked for something else that was a little less, they said no.”