In an act of professional commitment that I truly hope the Caruso family is cool with, Lakers reserve guard Alex Caruso told ESPN’s Zach Lowe he skipped his sister’s wedding to remain in the NBA bubble with his teammates.
Were he to attend the wedding, which was a 100-person wedding held this past weekend outside Austin, Texas, Caruso would have had to quarantine upon return and wouldn’t be able to attend any team activities. With the season re-starting on July 30, Caruso would be forced to miss scrimmages, and possibly games depending on how long the quarantine lasted.
So he stayed in Orlando.
Caruso and the Lakers had initially hoped the quarantine would only be required for 4 days along with a negative COVID-19 test, but when the league mandated the quarantine be 10 days, and possibly up to 14 days, Caruso made the call.
“They supported my decision either way,” Caruso said. “They also helped me realize how important I am to what we are trying to do here, now that [Avery Bradley] didn’t make it and [Rajon Rondo] hurt his hand. There is some added responsibility.”
In the end, everyone with the Lakers made it clear that they would be fine with Caruso leaving. “They had my back,” Caruso said. “I felt genuine support from the organization.”
Lowe has more details on the decision and the league’s quarantine protocol over at ESPN.
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