The only fan favorite.

Mr Alex Caruso joining us on set.

Zach has talked of little else, demanded Alex Caruso.

Adam always.

He's like he's like We're going.

The Lakers were getting Alex, right?

Are we getting Alex?

And look, there's a lot of things that have made you beloved here in Los Angeles, but I'm not sure anything cause more of a stir this summer around the entire league.

Let's be honest, then.

The photo of you patrol Hope Hope photo right there.

I thought it was really I'm looking out like, Dude, did you just, like, lose £25?

Crazy?

The crazy thing is like I had people that I was friends with from, like, back home.

That was texting late.

Hey, this isn't really is it?

Or like they test Israel's.

You get randomly drug does not long after that.

It's not random because you eyes not right.

When you say that I get a phone call from the league office, I just want you to know I said nothing.

I I was 36 years old and had, like, the best dunk of my life and got drug tested.

The next day is an outside firm that does this.

Richard.

They look and they're just like we should go see what he's doing today.

You know, if I looked like that, I'd probably go try out for the Rams of the charges.

What?

What did you think of sort of when that first came out?

I mean, it's it's kind of been a whole summer has been ongoing mean video craze for me.

I don't know why they chose me to be the guinea pig for it, but it's been a lot of fun.

You know, I got a good sense of humor.

So any time something pops up, I always get tagged in it or I always get sent it from my friends.

So it's Ah, it's cut me.

Ah, it's kept me young kept you young doing the body issues.

I do.

I do like our production staff has already nominated you next next summer.

So you're all good there.

I do want to ask you, of course, about playing basketball.

You know, your day job.

25 games last season.

We have sort of the chart here showing your 1st 19 games and then your next six games, and I would just like to know what got into you.

Frankly, uh, you know, I'm not sure if it's anything that I changed.

I think I maybe was just more aggressive.

You know, the more the more that I have played, I think I've played some around 60 60 or so games total in MBA and like my two years on the two way, the more I play, the more comfortable I get, you know, And that's that's the experience.

Part of it that the more time I got on the court, the more comfortably was with reads more comfortable.

I was with the different areas where I knew I could attack, and I know I could take advantage of the defense.

And then obviously there was a couple of games.

I mean, the pelicans one, the Clippers, one where I just was just hot, had good games.

But I think it was really just being able to be out on the court with Cal Kuzma being out to start the season, and we don't really know how long it's gonna be.

Another month, two months.

Do you feel like this is an opportunity for you and other players t kind of set the tone and get yourself these extra minutes.

Allow yourself to get a rhythm that you can kind of build on as the season goes on, for sure, for sure.

Any time, Any time You know you hate to see your teammates injured, you don't you don't wish that upon anybody.

But any time that that's happened for me in my career, I've just been ready.

And, like you said, it's opportunity.

If if I wasn't ready for the opportunity over the last two years, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you all right now.

So for me, it's just about putting the work in every day.

You know on then once I get out there just playing hard, and if I play as hard as I can, usually good things happen for me and the team.

So that's kind of what I focus on that.

That's what I've been thinking a lot like the Mihm's and and all that is funny.

But I wonder if you feel like I'm actually a good a good basketball player and I kind of want to.

I want to show that like people, people.

So the Lakers you know, another ball handler, A guy who can shoot a guy who hustles and plays defense like, Well, that's that's that guy.

Do you feel like you kind of want to get past the mean stuff?

You know?

I mean, I was never really I mean, the mean stuff.

Like we said, Twitter's like fantasy land, like none of that's really so like, I mean, you can look into it and you can laugh about it and see it, but at the end of the day, like I got to show up and put my shoes on and go play basketball.

So I mean, every time that there's been a member somebody that, like I laugh at, it's funny.

But at the same time, I'm a professional basketball player like I'm ready to go this season like I'm ready to get Media day done with, get to training camp.

That's a themes in the videos and just play basketball.

When you're when you're ready to just be done with Media Day, then you know 30 minutes in your profession and look, we love the way the guys on the team obviously love and support you so much.

One of my favorite moments for this Lakers squad.

Toward the end of the season, there was a lot of good right happening.

There wasn't a lot of bright spots.

And yet there's this game against the Warriors.

You do this, put back of a Rondo, dunk the bench, right, LeBron everybody.

The benches like going nuts and you're like, Yeah, this is what I do right?

Well, that's the funny thing is like that.

I've been doing that since high school, like that's nothing new for me.

But like I wasn't playing in the NBA, I wasn't like the top 50.

Top 10 recruits were like People didn't get to see the videos of it.

So I think it's just I mean, it's funny for me because, like, I really have been doing this like you asked people, somebody tag me in a video on Twitter from like, three or four years ago when I was playing at the wreck and texting him and I, like, threw it off the backboard to myself, like going down the lane and also, yeah, I remember I did that and people thought that was like like a week or two ago was like no that was like four years ago.

You're not going t This is the difference.

You're not gonna be able to catch people through this year.

You know, that makes it even more fun.

You do catch him because they're going to go up knowing that you have this ability.

So if you catch him, it just kind of adds a little bit more gravy to And for me, it's like I'm not doing that every game.

Like that's like it once every couple of games I'll go up and, like, get a tip dunk or like, have a transition play.

So it's sneaky, like people like to say, like sneak athleticism for the white guy like that's still like I wasn't gonna say.

I'm glad you said for so many stereotype.

It's all right.

Okay.

Yeah, it's just about like you said.

It's about sneaking up on them.

Makes it even more special.

There you go.

Well, thank you so much for joining us today.

You've gotten are part of media day over with, so you can move on to the best part way.

Just were on national TV.

But thank you, but no, We will be looking for all the new photo shops and names and great play from your last.

Thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube.

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