Lauri Markkanen was sitting on his couch on Thursday night with his wife, his children and his agent. They were watching TNT, just like every other basketball fan, waiting to hear who would represent the Western Conference as All-Star reserves.
“A little bit of a nerve-wracking experience,” Markkanen said. “I know the guys that I was competing against for that spot, so it’s a nerve-wracking moment, waiting for the next name, seeing who else is going to be there.”
The All-Star reserve roster consists of two backcourt players, three frontcourt players and two wildcard spots. The Utah Jazz’s 7-foot forward, waited as he saw the two other frontcourt players announced — the Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George — as well as three other backcourt players — Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, Oklahoma City Thunder standout Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard.
But then, the sixth name the TNT crew announced was Lauri Markkanen, followed by Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr.
“Excited because on a personal level, it’s what you’ve been working for,” Markkanen said. “All of your experiences in the past, you kind of remember everything that you’ve gone through in your journey. Everything happens for a reason. So I was happy when it happened, but then kind of slowly started thinking that I kind of had to go through that stuff to get here.”
Markkanen has made no secret about wanting to be an All-Star. He’s been saying that it was a dream of his to earn an All-Star roster spot since his rookie season. But in his previous NBA roles — first with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers — he was more of a role player and never the top option.
But Jazz head coach Will Hardy and the front office saw potential for more with Markkanen. Hardy especially saw the potential for more when he watched what Markkanen was able to do with the Finnish national team over the summer. On that team, Markkanen was the top option and was used in every way possible.
When Markkanen got to Utah, Hardy said that he wanted to give Markkanen the kind of freedom he had with the Finnish national team and build on that.
Very early on in the 2022-23 season, it was clear that Markkanen was the Jazz’s best player and that he was more capable, more skilled, and had more potential than anyone had thought. Just a few short weeks after the season began, Markkanen was getting All-Star buzz and the Jazz started promoting Markkanen as an All-Star candidate, even making rookie Walker Kessler the unofficial Markkanen campaign manager.
“After the start we had and then kind of kept it going, you start thinking about it,” Markkanen said. “Then obviously the team hires a campaign manager and that kind of stuff and so you start to think that’s a real possibility.”
Markkanen made a point of saying that he shares becoming an All-Star with his teammates and coaches and that he wouldn’t have been able to do anything this season without them.
He’s not your typical All-Star. He doesn’t get a ton of points in isolation, he moves a lot without the ball in his hands. But his production has been so impressive and so efficient that it’s hard to ignore him as one of the best players in the league.
This season Markkanen is averaging a career-best 24.9 points on 52% from the field, 43.2% from 3-point range and 87.5% from the free throw line, along with 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
For his teammates, they didn’t see any other option than for Markkanen to be an All-Star this year.
“It’s a no-brainer if you ask me,” Jordan Clarkson said. “Look at what he’s been doing. He’s as much an All-Star as anyone.”