Other shoe drops: Caruso T'd up for desperate D
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso was called for goaltending and given a technical foul during a game after he used his shoe to swat away an opponent's layup attempt. The unusual defensive play went viral across timely-documentary-about-iranian-judo-star-who-risk.html" class="story-link" title="Fox, Sipur & Fulwell Teaming On Timely Documentary About Iranian Judo Star Who R">sports social media, with multiple highlight videos circulating on Reddit and other platforms. ESPN covered the incident with the headline 'Other shoe drops: Caruso T'd up for desperate D.'
This is peak Alex Caruso - the kind of hustling, unconventional play that makes him a fan favorite. Even though it resulted in penalties, his willingness to try anything to make a defensive play, including using his shoe, shows the kind of effort and creativity that endears him to basketball fans.
The referees correctly called both goaltending and a technical foul according to NBA rules. Using equipment other than your hands to interfere with the ball is illegal, and while creative, this was clearly against the rules and had to be penalized appropriately.