Finland's first NBA All-Star, Lauri Markkanen making his mark with Utah Jazz

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Finland's first NBA All-Star, Lauri Markkanen making his mark with Utah Jazz
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'Let's not put him in a box,' Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy on Lauri Markkanen's abilities. Now, Markkanen is producing phenomenal results for the Jazz. Here's why.

The results have been phenomenal for the Markkanen and the Jazz. Markkanen, 25, averages career highs in points , field-percentage , 3-point percentage , free throw percentage and minutes along with 8.6 rebounds and a career-best 22 double-doubles.

Markkanen is the first All-Star from Finland and one of a league-record four European All-Star starters with Denver's Nikola Jokic, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dallas' Luka Doncic. Markkanen attended All-Star Weekend in 2015 as a 17-year-old prospect at the NBA's Basketball Without Borders global camp.

After last season, he had a long summer of preparing for this season and playing for Finland in Eurobasket. By the time Eurobasket concluded in September, the 7-foot Markkanen knew the tournament was an inflection point in his career. "Training camp started, and we put a couple things in for him and watched him play within our offense,” Hardy said. “We wanted to really have a structure that involved everybody and had a lot of guys doing a lot of different things. Lauri just kept seeming to find success, doing a little bit of everything. It's kind of just grown piece by piece.

Hardy and Markkanen have developed a mutually beneficial relationship. The better Markkanen is, the better the Jazz are, and the Jazz have a promising future with Markkanen, Collin Sexton and a dozen future first-round picks. Markkanen has two years and $35.3 million left on his four-year contract, setting him up for free agency in 2025.

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