According to the Brazos County Texas jail search results website, Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso was arrested for possession of marijuana by the Texas A&M University police on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old paid two separate cash bonds/fines totaling $3,552 to be released on the same day he was arrested.
Caruso was born and raised in College Station, Texas and attended Texas A&M for four years from 2012-16 before eventually making it to the NBA and becoming a fan-favorite with the Lakers.
The NBA used to test for marijuana and it is still technically on the banned substance list, but they stopped testing before the Orlando Bubble last year and it has remained suspended since due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The report says Caruso was carrying less than two ounces and according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, his bags contained a grinder with marijuana:
Lieutenant Bobby Richardson of the Texas A&M Police Department told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that around 2 p.m. local time, Caruso tried to board a flight at Easterwood Airport, which is located on A&M property.
The Transportation and Security Administration searched Caruso’s bags and found a herb grinder that contained marijuana, Richardson said.
This would not have been an issue in California or a bunch of other states that have legalized marijuana, but Texas clearly isn’t one of them and he was forced to suffer the consequences.
This summer is a big one for Caruso as he is set to enter free agency and should be in for a big payday. The guard is known for his hustle and defensive prowess but is coming off a career offensive season as well, shooting 40.1% from 3-point range.
Rob Pelinka made it clear at the beginning of the offseason that the priority is to keep players they drafted and/or developed over the years around, and Caruso definitely falls into the latter category as an undrafted player that burst onto the scene with the Lakers in Summer League of 2017 to earn a two-way contract.
Given his status among the fanbase and his teammates, Caruso will undoubtedly be one of the Lakers’ first orders of business when free agency begins in August.
Caruso understands what comes with playing in L.A.
While the Lakers want to bring Caruso back, it’s ultimately up to him if he wants to re-sign and although he would not tip his hand, it’s clear he understands the benefits of playing in the big L.A. market.
“I’m a realistic human being. I understand certain things happen in L.A. for certain reasons,” Caruso said. “I’m forever grateful for that and hopefully, we’ll see where everything lies, but like I said, I got to rank stuff and that’s obviously not something I’ve thought about in-depth 12 hours after the season ended. I’ll look more into that in July, but those are definitely things that L.A. takes into consideration. Maybe more so than other places.”
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