Finnish national team head coach Lassi Tuovi announced a final 12-man FIBA World Cup 2023 roster. Headlined by Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen, who fulfilled his military duty for his home country this summer, Finland's final roster features a mix of youngsters and experienced players.Â
After becoming a cornerstone of the Utah Jazz rebuild, Lauri Markkanen has been awarded his first trophy in his NBA career. The Finnish forward has been named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year. It's the first such award in the Jazz franchise history.
Since the inaugural FIBA Basketball World Cup in 1950, just 15 national teams have reached the podium. Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Soviet Union, Spain, Turkey, and the USA are the only countries to clinch at least one top-three finish.
Finnish national team head coach Lassi Tuovi announced a final 12-man FIBA World Cup 2023 roster. Headlined by Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen, who fulfilled his military duty for his home country this summer, Finland's final roster features a mix of youngsters and experienced players.Â
After becoming a cornerstone of the Utah Jazz rebuild, Lauri Markkanen has been awarded his first trophy in his NBA career. The Finnish forward has been named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year. It's the first such award in the Jazz franchise history.
Since the inaugural FIBA Basketball World Cup in 1950, just 15 national teams have reached the podium. Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Soviet Union, Spain, Turkey, and the USA are the only countries to clinch at least one top-three finish.
When the 2022-23 NBA season ends, Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkannen will get back to his home country of Finland to fulfill a duty for his homeland. Markkanen will serve mandatory time in the Finnish military during the summer. Depending on the outcome of the regular season, he will report for service either on April 17th or in July, Ramona Shelburne from ESPN writes.
Lauri Markkanen's turnaround season keeps getting better. After Sunday night's game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Finnish forward set a new NBA record.
Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo should register (uncertainty follows wrist injury) his seventh All-Star appearance on Feb. 19 after getting an opportunity to captain his team and select Team Giannis according to his preferences.
The 72nd All-Star Weekend will have a lot of international accents. A record 25 international players from a record 17 countries will participate in NBA All-Star 2023 in Salt Lake City, including a record six international All-Star Game starters and a record-tying nine international All-Stars overall. In comparison, 15 international players from 12 countries highlighted the NBA All-Star 2022.
Team USA is widely regarded as the most powerful basketball nation on the planet. Despite winning only three out of seven FIBA World Cup competitions in the last 29 years, they remain the team that all others strive to defeat. What if international basketball brought its top stars together for the upcoming FIBA World Cup to challenge Team USA?
After leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and coming to the Utah Jazz via a trade, Lauri Markkanen has been having the season of his life in the NBA. His new club is now responding to the Finnish forward's play on the court.
Lauri Markkanen is arguably having the best season of his career. So much so that he's often managed to steal the spotlights from players like Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 49 points, as the Utah Jazz snapped a five-game losing streak with a 131-114 road win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday. Markkanen's highest-scoring game entering Thursday was 38, which he had achieved twice, most recently on Dec. 20 against Detroit.
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen tied his career-high by putting up 38 points against the Detroit Pistons. In a 126-111 win, Markkanen finished the game with 38 points (4/7 2PT, 9/13 3PT, 3/4 FT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. 9 made 3-pointers is a new career-high for the Jazz forward.
There was a feeling that this moment was about to come for the Utah Jazz. The moment to break the team and start all over again. That's how the NBA works, after all. You build a team that you believe has the potential to be a contender, you try to put the right pieces around your stars, and you hope for the best.
On the eve of the start of his EuroBasket 2022 journey with the Finnish national team, Lauri Markkanen was traded from Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz in a package centered around Donovan Mitchell. Talking with The Salt Lake Tribune, the forward revealed how he found out about the trade.
Lauri Markkanen is probably tired of all these comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki. But his remarkable performance on a historical night for his country brought a few more reasons to put him in the same conversation with FIBA basketball legend. Finland advanced to the EuroBasket quarterfinals behind Lauri's 43-point show, that brought them a victory over Croatia 94-86.
Lauri Markkanen is the undisputed leader of the Finnish national team. With him on the roster, the Nordic country is entirely different on the court. Markkanen got traded from Cleveland Cavaliers last evening to the Utah Jazz in a package centered around acquiring Donovan Mitchell. Today, he is set to play against Israel in EuroBasket 2022 opening match in Prague.
Lauri Markkanen delivers another amazing performance with Finland national team's jersey to power his team with a 28-point performance over Israel with a final score of 79-73 (22-19, 25-18, 11-19, 21-17) in the World Cup 2023 European qualifiers Group J.
Lauri Markkanen's 42-point performance leads Finland past Ukraine, which led for most of the game, with the final score of 97-94 (16-20, 31-24, 15-27, 25-16, 10-7). With 3:05 left in the overtime, Markkanen converted on a driving layup for his 42nd point to give Finland a 6-point advantage (95-89).Â
Lauri Markkanen stunned Croatia (1-5) with a game-winner to put Finland (5-1) atop 81-79 (21-17, 22-17, 17-27, 21-18) and eliminate Croatia from the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.