Alex Caruso reveals which one of his nicknames is his favorite

At this point, everyone knows that Lakers guard Alex Caruso is a fan favorite. The self-described “token meme guy” has been fully embraced by the Staples Center faithful, becoming one of the Lakers’ most important role players this year.

In a conversation with Kevin De Bruyne of the Manchester City professional soccer team on the B/R Football YouTube channel, Caruso made it clear that he appreciates all the support and love he gets, both online and around the arena.

“Lakers fans are crazy, like in a great way, but they’re crazy,” Caruso told De Bruyne. “We have people outside the stadium every game, just waiting for us to show up like four hours before the game when we show up to start practicing.”

He added that one of the quickest ways he noticed that passion and dedication is in how many nicknames he’s been given:

De Bruyne: You have a lot of nicknames...

Caruso: “I didn’t until I moved to L.A. It used to just be ‘AC’ to everybody, and now it’s ‘The White Mamba,’ ‘The Bald Mamba,’ ‘The Bald Eagle,’ ‘The Accountant,’ ‘The Carushow...’”

Okay, before we move on, I really do think we should take a second to just acknowledge how wonderful that list of nicknames is, and how hilarious it is that “The Bald Eagle” went from one of our recap jokes to an actual thing that Caruso’s teammates call him.

But — perhaps not surprisingly given that it pokes fun at his hairline — that’s not the nickname that Caruso told De Bruyne is his favorite. That honor went to a different one of his many monikers:

“I like Carushow. I think that one is a nice little play on words, because it’s Lake Show. Lake Show was like back in like the 70s and 80s with Magic and Kareem and they were winning, and running up and down the floor, they called in the Lake Show just because it was a show right? It was just constant action, dunks, flashy passes. And then Caruso, Carushow, it just kind of ran together and they went with it.”

Look, unless you’re Kobe Bryant, you don’t get to choose your own nickname, but we now know which of his nicknames is Caruso’s preference, even if it’s honestly the most boring of the four. It’s also the only one of the five new ones he listed that isn’t somewhat a joke at his expense, so it really isn’t a shock that it’s the one he likes best.

Still, with all due respect and apologies to Caruso, I think this site is probably going to let The Bald Eagle fly more often than not. If it’s good enough for JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, it’s good enough for us.

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