First Toke
Alex Caruso got arrested for marijuana possession in Texas leading to an all-time Stephen A. Smith “STAY OFF THE WEEEEEDUH!”
At around 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, former Lakers guard Alex Caruso attempted to catch a flight at Eastwood Airport in College Station, Texas. The only problem? He had left a grinder containing marijuana remnants in his backpack, which is a definite no-no in the state that once employed Walker Texas Ranger. Caruso was arrested on misdemeanor charges and subsequently released. It was a minor embarrassment at best and a major inconvenience at worst. Not something to write home about . . . that is until Stephen A. Smith got involved, using Caruso’s misfortune as rocket fuel for one of his greatest “STAY OFF THE WEEEEEDUH!” readings to date. Mash that volume button.
Stephen A. Smith vs. weed has been one of ESPN’s longest running gambits. It's an institution, like NPR and Steely Dan, and it’s good to see the changing cultural milieu of marijuana hasn’t wiped it from existence. Hell, even Viktor Hovland knows it and that dude is from Norway.
We’re guessing Caruso probably doesn’t find all this quite as amusing, however. In addition to missing his flight and spending his afternoon getting roughed up by officer Buford T. Justice, Caruso is a free agent this offseason. No matter how incidental, a marijuana arrest gives teams everywhere (especially in Utah and Indiana) the excuse to lowball him or pass over him altogether. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen and Caruso finds some work. If not, maybe Stephen A. has an internship opening for him. Good luck passing that drug test, Alex.