With Finland’s adult males compelled to serve in the military by age 30, the Utah Jazz's failure to make the playoffs made the timing right for Lauri Markkanen to fulfill his obligation this offseason. He may have to do it again next year, too, though.
Markkanen had initially made a commitment to do it in the 2022 offseason,, only to have the timing thrown off by the Cleveland Cavaliers qualifying for the NBA’s postseason Play-In Tournament.
He did not have a ton of details on what his military service would look like, though he did acknowledge that, “I’m going to a place where there’s a lot of athletes; I’m sure they’ve dealt with different professional athletes before.” So, depending on the Jazz’s regular-season fortunes next season, this could be something Markkanen is doing again a year from now.
Markkanen’s fellow starting forward, Kelly Olynyk, a native Canadian, also found his teammate’s situation curious, but praised him for fulfilling his obligation.
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