Last year, when the Los Angeles Lakers were trying to manage all of the injuries on their roster, they called up Alex Caruso — the team’s first-ever two-way player.

Caruso got some run in his first season with the Lakers, but he didn’t start to get serious minutes until the final few weeks of the 2018-19 season. His breakout game came against the LA Clippers on April 5, 2019 — a game in which he scored a team-high 32 points on 10-19 shooting from the field, including 5-7 shooting from behind the arc. He also picked up 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and block en route to the Lakers’ 36th win.

Since then, Caruso’s legend has only grown, and in an interview with Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times, the 26-year-old guard talked about life as a Lakers fan favorite:

“It’s been a fun journey with L.A.,” Caruso said. “I came here on a two-way contract and spent my first two years on two-way deals and Lakers fans have gone through this journey with me and for them to accept me as part of the Lakers family is so special. It’s nice to be able to connect with the fans and it makes my experience that much more enjoyable when I can go out there and hear them cheering for me. I can’t wait to do that again.”

Caruso may not be the most talented or accomplished player on this year’s star-studded Lakers team, but the fans have made a collective effort to make him feel like he is — that is his personal favorite thing about Lakers fans.

It also helps that Caruso’s an electric in-game dunker. Whether it’s because of the way that he looks or the way he winds up for a dunk, there’s just something different about a dunk from AC.

Hopefully we can get to a point as a country where the possibility of a postseason fastbreak dunk from Caruso isn’t just a pipe dream. Can you imagine Caruso picking Patrick Beverley’s pocket and then throwing it down? With or without fans in attendance, that would be incredible.

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