Alex Caruso’s One-on-One Interview with Nick Gallo | June 24, 2024 | OKC Thunder

Alex Caruso’s One-on-One Interview with Nick Gallo | June 24, 2024 | OKC Thunder

I’ve got the newest member of the Thunder organization here inside the Thunder ion Alex Caruso coming in Via trade from Chicago and uh yet obviously very familiar with this organization having been here to start your professional Journey um Alex when you found out about the trade what was going through your mind how did you react in that moment uh obviously I’m sure kind of caught you off guard trades don’t normally happen at this stage of June yeah a little caught off guard um but you know to took it in stride I think once I heard those Oklahoma City I thought about you know all the relationships that I have with people that are still in the organization um obviously Sam and then you know Mark um just just a handful of people probably probably five to 10 people that are still here so was really excited you know just to have the opportunity to come back here cuz you know I know how good of an organization this is and how well run it is um and then excited to play with you know the guys uh I’ve watched from afar and they look like they have a lot of fun playing the game and that’s something I look forward to yeah there’s so much continuity in this building and and one of the core values of this place is competitiveness and that just brims off of you as a player maybe tell me about that aspect of your character of your personality and how that meshes with what you have seen goes on Within These Walls and and how that translates on the court yeah I think that’s just about you know you want to chase greatness you got to be competitive um you got to push yourself and you got to push your teammates and I think that’s something for me um that even if I wanted to not do it I couldn’t like it’s just it’s ingrained in me if I’m going to do something I’m going to do it you know to the best of my ability uh and and obviously I you know if that wasn’t true I wouldn’t be sitting here with you eight years later after after signing exhibit 10 with OKC to to being on the team now um and then as far as basketball just you know excited to to match the energy of the guys you know I can tell from afar during the year that you know obviously led by by Shay but you know Lou Jay dub uh Chad like I can see all these guys have a hunger and have have a a competitiveness about them that that’s fun to watch there’s a presence to them as well in terms of being in the moment one of the things that you know very well from playing under Mark dnal is be where your feet are yeah and tell me about maybe how that Mantra helped shape your journey your career and and maybe how remarkable it is that that’s something that these guys live by I mean they talk about a zero zero mentality all the time here in this building yeah that was something that you know it’s funny you say that because we used to have like a 30 second pause right before practice with the blue be where your feet are time where it’s just no you don’t say anything it’s like you just got to do whatever you got to do to get your mind right for practice that day um and I think that stuck with me I really do I think I think I was just super present um whatever stage of my career and this journey that I’ve been on um wherever it was for me that’s what I was focused on I was focused on that team those players that coach um and then obviously myself to try and improve uh and I think it’s done great for I mean obviously it’s done pretty good I’m I’m here now but you know I have some accolades to show for it for seven years of of hard work uh and hopefully you know many more to come yeah you’ve faced adversity in your career you’ve been told no along the way but you have people in this building who have believed in you since you were in college Sam presty talked the other day about how he would go and Scout all these games and he wouldn’t be there necessarily to see you but every time he’d watch a game you’d be the best player on the floor and that that really stuck with him do you remember anything about um some of your first encounters with the Thunder organization and Sam and kind of maybe an initial belief in what you could be yeah I think you know just the fact that um they were willing to bring me in on exhibit 10 and let me play on the g- league team just showed that you know they they thought that I with a little bit of hard work and and some resiliency that I could make something of myself and and it looks like you know they turned out to be be correct so um you know Sam Sam’s of the best in the game at what he does um if if he sees something it’s probably true and you know he might have even seen something maybe before I did in myself um at least this far down the path but uh you know thankful obviously for for the opportunity and and I took it and ran with it and and still to this day you know trying to be present trying to keep getting better that’s that’s kind of what I’m focused on yeah and ultimately it does come down to you and what you’ve done maybe take me into uh your work ethic what you do in the offseason what you do during the seasons to prepare your mind and your body to be an all defensive player uh all defensive team caliber player and what you’ve done to you know round out your game as well as a shooter and playmaker and distributor yeah it’s been the same thing um year after year and I’m just stacking hour stacking days uh that’s really all you can do you know there’s no secret formula to it you know there’s not something I wish there was I would have been here a lot earlier we could have been sitting down a couple years ago but uh you just got to show up to work every day um I think that’s as simple as it gets and I think for me learning that lesson you know being a draft to going through the g-league to to getting into the NBA uh being around Pros when I was young in the NBA you you see what the work ethic really is um and for me you know at this point 30 I I’ve been in the league for seven years like I know what works for me and and I plan out my Summers accordingly get to work play a little Golf and then during the year be a good teammate take care of my body you know all the stuff that that you know equates a success your mindset of stacking days is going to be ringing true to the people here in Oklahoma it’s something that these guys talk about in this building all the time how excited yeah how excited are you to get with these players Shay GIS Alexander and Lou Dort chat holr to grow to collectively as a unit yeah I’m really excited uh like like we talked about earlier I’m a super competitive guy um I know from playing against these guys that that’s how they operate you know there’s times where uh they were down against against whatever team I was on in the past um and they had some type of heart or resiliency that they showed and came out and either won the game or had a chance to win it so I’m excited to be on the same team moving in the same direction instead of you know battling against them just because I can tell that they stand for the things that that I want to stand for and and it looks like they have fun playing the game which is something that I love to do you’re a shoot drive pass guy on offense uh you’re a down defender on defense one-on-one and off the ball just initially from kind of a a scheme and X and0 standpoint what do you envision in terms of your ability to to impact things within the system that that is in place here yeah I mean whatever they want me to do that’s what I’m going to do you know that’s kind of always been the uh the status quo for me is whatever the team needs is is what I’m going to get done um a lot of guard to guard actions I know just from guarding that how tough it is um just playing playing ahead of the defense I think is something that that I do well you know um whether it’s a pass like you said Pass Drive shoot whatever the option is just being ready to play on offense and then obviously defensively just you know bringing that mentality bringing it night in night out uh pulling guys along whenever they might need it and then hopefully the opposite when I need it some nights last thing for you you got an offseason ahead a lot of time before you guys get to to Really lce them up uh what’s key for you moving forward what are you going to be doing uh spending your time on this offseason yeah I’m I’m back home in Austin and just working on my game everything again you know there’s not one one thing that I I that goes untouched during the offseason whether it’s you know my body uh getting up enough shots just because the way the game is taking threes working on decision making as a ball handler um and then my mind too just making sure that I’m I’m rehabilitating my my mental health and making sure that I come back fresh and hungry at the beginning of every year a hard hat No Nonsense kind of competitor these fans in Oklahoma City are going to love Alex Caruso welcome back to OKC thanks brother appreciate it

Nick Gallo catches up and checks in with Alex Caruso as we welcome him in OKC.

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