According to the league, the award “honors a player who makes impactful effort plays that might not appear in the box score.” It was created eight years ago, and Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart has won it three times.
The NBA tracks hustle statistics such as deflections, loose balls recovered, charges drawn, screen assists, contested shots and box-outs. Caruso led the league in deflections per game (3.7) and ranked first in loose balls recovered and seventh in charges drawn on a per-minute basis.
Caruso, named to the All-Defensive First Team in 2022-23, is one of the NBA’s top defenders known for his all-out playing style. He ranked fourth in the league in steals per game (1.7) and averaged a career-high 1.0 blocks per game this season.
As Martin details, when Caruso was on the court, Chicago had the equivalent of Boston’s 110.6 defensive rating, which ranked second in the NBA. When he wasn’t playing, the Bulls had the equivalent of the league’s 24th-ranked defense.
A former undrafted free agent who made it into the NBA by working through the G League, Caruso won a championship with the Lakers in 2020. The 30-year-old had a strong all-around season in 2023-24, averaging 10.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 3.5 APG on .468/.408/.760 shooting in 71 games (28.7 MPG). Several of those figures represented career highs.
Caruso will earn $9.89M in 2024-25, the final season of his contract. He’ll be eligible for a veteran extension this offseason.
The top five finishers for the 2023-24 Hustle Award were, in order, Caruso, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski, Thunder wing Luguentz Dort, and Hornets forward Grant Williams.
As Howard Beck of The Ringer reports, the award is determined by aggregating the hustle stats the league tracks, so there is no voting panel.
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