LeBron James has been through the trenches with Alex Caruso, and the two have formed a friendship that will last a lifetime. This is certainly apparent in the way James celebrated his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate's engagement with his longtime partner, Haleigh Broucher.
Caruso and Broucher jointly posted pictures on Instagram of the former's proposal towards the latter. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard then received plenty of congratulations for such a huge life milestone, with James being the most prominent personality to send Caruso his regards.
“CONGRATULATIONS MY BROTHER!!!!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾,” James wrote.
LeBron James was not the only former teammate who greeted Alex Caruso in his engagement. Andre Drummond, who spent time in the same locker room with Caruso on the 2021 Lakers as well as the 2022-24 Bulls, also gave the Thunder guard his regards.
“Congrats my brother! I love you guys 🥹🥹,” Drummond commented.
Caruso is a beloved figure in locker rooms he belongs in due to his professionalism, work ethic, and team success-oriented skillset. Aside from LeBron James and Drummond, Zach LaVine, Derrick Jones Jr., Jared Dudley, and Quinn Cook, four other former teammates of the Thunder guard, also sent out their congratulations.
“Welcome to the club dawg!!!” LaVine wrote.
“Congrats broski 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾,” Jones added.
“Congrats my guy!” Dudley exclaimed.
“Congrats 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐,” Cook furthered.
Caruso and his girlfriend Haleigh have been together for three years, and they have now decided to commit the rest of their lives to each other. The 30-year-old guard, with his engagement, has gone through a lot of changes this offseason, as he and his fiancee prepare to begin life with the Thunder, the team that acquired him from the Bulls this past offseason in exchange for Josh Giddey.
Broucher has been very supportive of the former Lakers guard's endeavors, and it will be very fun to root for a prosperous relationship between her and Caruso. Another round of congratulations is in order for the newly engaged couple.
Alex Caruso, the one who got away from LeBron James and the Lakers
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Even though the Lakers struggled for the majority of the 2010s, their scouting team was on point when it comes to unearthing gems. They managed to find Alex Caruso as perhaps the best diamond in the rough they discovered during that time period.
It didn't take long for Caruso to turn heads due to the way he impacted winning for the Lakers. This became ever so apparent during the 2019-20 season. It seemed as though the Lakers' defense kicked into a higher gear every time he was on the floor, as he stuck to opposing ballhandlers like glue all the while having a penchant for being at the right place at the right time on the offensive end of the court.
Caruso played in all 21 of the Lakers' playoff games in the 2020 bubble, playing a huge part in bringing the Purple and Gold its 17th title in franchise history. He played an even bigger role in the 2020-21 Lakers squad, but an untimely postseason injury to Anthony Davis derailed their title-defense hopes.
However, instead of running it back, the Lakers front office overcorrected in 2021. They dealt away Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma for Russell Westbrook, and in a move that remains confounding to this day, they decided to let Caruso walk in free agency so they could keep Talen Horton-Tucker instead. Caruso is now part of an impressively deep Thunder core, while Horton-Tucker is languishing in free agency this deep into the offseason.
Caruso will forever be the one that got away for the Lakers, as they could have kept him for a bargain price and yet chose not to for some misguided reason.
