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Alex Caruso · Sometimes, being the elder statesman on the NBA’s youngest title-winner in five decades requires teaching youthful teammates how to pop championship champagne. At others, as Alex Caruso has learned, the process merely calls for keeping opponents bottled up. Perfectly capable of handling both asks, Caruso turned Game Four of the 2025 NBA Finals into a clinic on how a complementary player impacts matchups, offering game-altering contributions on both sides. A hand-in-glove fit upon arrival, Caruso mixed in heads-up attacks of the rim, disruptive defense — headlined by one pickpocket of Tyrese Haliburton — and timely plays whenever needed, as the Oklahoma City Thunder preserved their season in a must-win Game Four. Wanting no parts of a 3-1 deficit, Caruso continued what had quickly become a brilliant four-game Finals stretch, pairing his second 20-point performance of the series with three rebounds, five steals, one block, and a 3-pointer on June 13, 2025. Nine days later, performances of that caliber became storybook, as the Thunder overcame the Indiana Pacers in an exhilarating seven-game series. · State of Mint