By Brandon Zhu
On this day in 2016, the Oklahoma City Thunder waived Alex Caruso. With a maximum of 450 players in the NBA at any given time, and only 150 starters, the NBA had to make a difficult decision. Caruso, the undrafted Texas A&M point guard, would get a second chance. Following a stint with the Oklahoma City Blue in the NBA Development League, Caruso joined the Lakers for the 2017 NBA Summer League. After playing well and helping the Lakers win the summer league title, Caruso became the first player to go directly from the D-League to the NBA via two-way contract. On April 5, 2019, Caruso recorded a career high 32 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. It was the game of a lifetime, but with LeBron James out for the last six games of the season, Caruso took advantage and put up impressive numbers in the last stretch of a tough Lakers season. In 2019, he signed a two-year contract with the Lakers worth $5.5 million. On October 11, 2020, Caruso made his first start of his postseason career in game 6 of the 2020 NBA finals. He was an NBA champion by the end of the night.