Alex Caruso tried (unsuccessfully) to show off his basketball IQ this week.
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard Caruso went viral during Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic for his highly unusual spark of creativity. In the second quarter at Kia Center in Orlando, Fla., Caruso had his left sneaker come off during live play.
That did not stop Caruso from continuing to play defense however. While holding the rogue shoe in his right hand, Caruso stopped a drive to the basket by Orlando forward Tristan da Silva by [checks notes] winding up with his sneaker and swatting the ball loose.
Here is the priceless video.
Nah man I’ve NEVER seen anything like THIS.
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) March 18, 2026
Alex Caruso blocked a shot with HIS SHOE pic.twitter.com/EDYzushxgh
Unfortunately for Caruso, the referees did not award him any points for improvisation. In fact, they actually counted the basket by da Silva AND gave Caruso a technical foul for the display on top of it all (as the NBA rulebook states that players cannot use their equipment to gain any sort of an advantage).
We have seen incidents in basketball of players hitting three-pointers without a shoe and even of players throwing a shoe at the opposition during play. But that Caruso moment on Tuesday had to be the very first instance of a player actually using his shoe to attempt to block a shot.
