Caruso was a cult hero in Los Angeles, but he credits his experience with the Lakers with teaching him about winning.
‘‘Who in here would win ‘Squid Game’?’’ Caruso said, referring to the Netflix series, while taking one more glance at a handful of the younger players getting a scrimmage in.
So returning to Los Angeles for back-to-back games against the Clippers, whom the Bulls defeated 100-90 on Sunday, and Lakers, whom they will play Monday, wasn’t only important for Caruso from a basketball standpoint.
It wasn’t a coincidence that George was a shaky 3-for-12 from the field in the first half, while Caruso was a plus-12 and the Bulls had a 54-45 lead at the break.
The Clippers made a run from late in the third quarter into the early part of the fourth, even grabbing a one-point lead with 10 minutes left.
Caruso, however, knows there are many more steps the Bulls must take to get where they want to this season.
there is a lot of attention, a lot of people that care about things off the court that might make a big deal of me returning here, but for me it was always about basketball,’’ Caruso said when asked about his cult-like following.
And to win a championship with that team, those teammates the coaches, it kind of turned into what it turned into.