Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace Are Trying To Outdo Each Other In This Category

Sometimes, teammates have to compete with each other to become better versions of themselves. For Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace, this is a fun process that has benefited the Oklahoma City Thunder on both ends of the floor.

In an appearance on “The Young Man and the Three” podcast, the Thunder guards opened up on a little game that they played between themselves in last year’s playoffs. “There were games when me and AC were like, ‘I’m going to beat you in steals today,” Wallace recalled.

To emphasize the hilarity of this in-game competition, Caruso went for a pop culture comparison. “I don’t think y’all are gonna know this reference,” he said as he pointed to Wallace and Jaylin Williams, who were also guesting on the podcast. “It’s like The Lord of the Rings scene with Legolas and the ax guy where they’re counting bodies.”

Caruso is referencing the friendly wager in the second LOTR film, The Two Towers, in which the elven archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and the ax-wielding dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) try to outdo each other in terms of slaying evil orcs. Apparently, the wager between the OKC guards was to see which of them could swipe the ball more times from their opponents.

“We would literally do that. One of us would check in the game, one of us would check out. ‘Alright, I’m at two. I’m at three,” Caruso said, leading to a chuckle from Wallace.

So, who won that competition? In the 2025 playoffs, Wallace tallied 32 steals. Caruso, on the other hand, had 45 steals to lead all Thunder players in that postseason.

From the looks of it, Wallace had been chomping at the bit to start his rematch with Caruso. During a preseason game, the third-year pro out of Kentucky tried to get his veteran to engage in the steals-counting competition again. “That doesn’t count yet,” Caruso pointed out.

Funnily enough, this line is reminiscent of another LOTR scene. In Return of the King, Legolas pulls off some acrobatics to take down an oliphaunt, a massive war-trained creature. Gimli, who wanted to save face, hilariously yells, “But it still only counts as one!”

On the opening night of this season, the trio of Caruso, Wallace, and Williams became lords of rings for a moment as they were honored for their 2025 championship victory. Now that the 2025–26 campaign is underway, Wallace can officially add to his steals tally in his bid to unseat Caruso.