Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso is one of the league’s best defenders, and he often gets that praise. He has earned himself a good reputation for being one of the best stoppers in the league. However, he has also become known as a player who can get away with physicality.
At times, the referees do not blow their whistles when he gets overly physical against the offensive player. However, on Tuesday, there was a wholly unique moment that led to Caruso getting assessed a technical foul.
Caruso gets honest about the tech for his shoe block
Caruso is one of the most respected defenders in the league. He has been a constant presence in defensive discussions because he shuts down his matchup plenty of times over the years.
Recently, he has become one of the most physical defenders, as he tests the limits of what the referees allow. He and Lu Dort have formed a defensive unit that is feared by almost any perimeter player in the league.
Unfortunately for Caruso, he made the headlines for unfortunate reasons on Tuesday night. He went viral for blocking a shot with his shoe that went off his foot. It naturally led to a technical foul, which was to be expected.
“I’ve never been in that situation before. And, I don’t know, it came to me. I just thought I was gonna block it, and I honestly don’t know what I thought the call would be. I didn’t know it was going to be a goaltending and a tech,” Caruso said after the Thunder’s latest victory.
“As soon as I had my shoe in my hand, it crept in my mind to use it. Not like in a malicious way, but like ‘Let me try to make a play to stop the ball.’ It’s just one of those weird NBA plays that probably won’t happen for like another 10 years.”
Moving forward, this is a lesson learned for Caruso. It is not something that the referees appreciate. They already give him plenty of leeway on defense, but this might frustrate the officials enough to be more wary of his defensive plays.
