It’s still a few weeks before the NBA begins voting for the Feb. 18 game All-Star in Indianapolis. But Bulls players have begun their campaign.
“Alex, All-Star ’24. You’ve got to say it,” Coby White was yelling across the Bulls post game locker room to DeMar DeRozan as the Bulls leading scorer in Wednesday’s 111-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets was speaking with reporters.
DeRozan quickly climbed aboard the Alex Express.
“All-Star 2024, Indiana,” DeRozan repeated. “That’s the pitch right there. He’s (Caruso) everything. Every team would love a guy like Alex Caruso, the things he brings, the excitement. Alex Caruso is a guy who can play on every single team in the NBA. The crowds love him, the intensity and excitement he brings, the competitor he is on both ends of the floor is amazing.”
DeRozan and Zach LaVine, the latter out for at least another three to four weeks with a foot problem according to a Bulls announcement after Wednesday’s game, remain the Bulls leading scorers, DeRozan is first at 21.9 per game. But DeRozan’s statistics are among his poorest in the past five years, shooting 45%. And his 21.9 per game is his fewest in three Bulls seasons.
White has been scoring impressively in LaVine’s absence, but he’s still a modest 15.1 points for the season after 19 points on 6-of-16 shooting against Charlotte.
Although Caruso is averaging just 9.8 points, he might be the Bulls most impactful player this season with two game winning shots in the team’s eight victories, his role as the primary defender on the best opponents in matching up with everyone from Giannis Antetokounmpo to Zion Williamson to Kevin Durant.
This while turning into the team’s best three-point artist, shooting 48.5% for the season after 1-of-2 Wednesday among his 12 points. The 6-foot-5 guard is fourth in the NBA in three-point shooting.
Yet on the defensive end is where Caruso earns his bonafides with his refusal to acknowledge screens, drawing more charges getting over screens than most in the NBA. Caruso drew two more charges against Charlotte to move into the top 10 in the league, one behind teammate White. He also leads the team in steals and is second to Patrick Williams in blocks.
And that with starting fewer than half the games and averaging just under 24 minutes per game.
“The coaching staff always challenges us to put our body in play,” said White. “Before the season started I wanted to lead the team in charges. But it’s kind of tough; we got Alex Caruso.”
Caruso also leads the NBA for the new Jerry West Clutch Player award just ahead of Luka Doncic, Steph Curry, LeBron James and Tyrese Haliburton.
Imagine where the Bulls would be without this guy.
It’s rare, but not unprecedented, for a reserve player to make an NBA All-Star team, though Caruso likely will start regularly now with LaVine’s absence.
It wasn’t that unusual in NBA history as elite sixth men like John Havlicek, Billy Cunningham and Kevin McHale were selected to All-Star teams despite coming off the bench. Though they were effectively considered starting level talents in that era.
Since then there was the exception of Kobe Bryant early in his career making an All-Star team despite coming off the bench. In 1998 when that occurred, the NBA still was reluctant to accept players who didn’t attend college.
But there also have been a few classic sixth man/role players who made All-Star teams. Ricky Pierce, a Sixth Man winner, did in 1991, and a veteran reserve, Chris Gatling, was selected for an All-Star team in 1997.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan was asked about a Caruso candidacy.
“It’s always hard when a player that’s maybe having a great year and you play against them before the All-Star break and they maybe don’t have a great game; it’s not like you get a chance to watch him a lot,” said Donovan about Caruso’s prospects. “For me, he definitely should be considered into the All-Star game in terms of the things he does and the impact he makes. Obviously, there are a lot of great players in the league and I’m not sitting here and saying he’s a definite All-Star.
“I would say it’s very tough (for him because of the box score effect for fan voters), but when you talk about someday who can really influence winning and does the things he does. You (media) guys see on a regular basis what doesn’t show up on the box score. It’s pretty impressive,” said Donovan. “He guards all these (all-NBA) guys night in and night out. He’ll do anything. He’s smart, he’s shot the ball better. In terms of his impact and contributions, he should be a guy who is up for consideration.”
You don’t have to persuade Caruso’s campaign chairman, White.
“Yeah, hell yeah,” White exclaimed. “The way he’s been playing this year on both ends of the court, the amount of shots he’s hit, clutch moments when we needed it the most, the amount of disruption on the defensive end. It (often) goes under the radar. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does.
“Yeah,” White repeated, “All-Star AC 2024!”
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