Basketball | Lauri Markkanen was selected for the NBA all-star game

The NBA coaches voted the Finn to the All Stars bench.

Lauri Markkanen has been selected for the all-star game of the professional basketball league NBA. The coaches of the NBA teams voted him to the bench as one of the seven players of the Western Conference. The elections were announced early on Friday Finnish time.

Previously, fans, NBA players and the press had voted for the starting crews, of which Markkanen was left behind so accurately that his success in the coaches’ vote was expected.

The all-star match will be played on Monday, February 20 at 3 a.m. Finnish time. Nelonen and Ruutu broadcast it live. The venue happens to be the home arena of Markkanen’s Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.

Markkanen the selection means that thanks to his amazing season, he has been officially recognized as one of basketball’s absolute elite. Therefore, it can be considered one of the greatest Finnish achievements in team sports of all time.

The meeting of the star teams is in itself an exhibition match, where the baskets are played, more entertainment than competitive sports, but that does not reduce the importance of Markkanen’s choice. It’s about the fact that he has become a real star player who has made his team succeed in what is perhaps the toughest ball-playing series in the world. Basketball is one of the most popular team sports, and unlike football, for example, all the best in the world play in the same league.

Star selection has also been one of Markkanen’s own big goals, which he has publicly talked about throughout his career.

For a Finn, the choice is almost unbelievable in the light of history, because only two Finns have played in the NBA before – Hanno Möttölä (Atlanta Hawks 2000–2002) and grew up in the United States Erik Murphy (Chicago Bulls 2013-2014) – whose success in the league remained modest.

Markkanen is playing in his sixth season in the NBA and has been a starting wing forward for almost his entire career. He started with the Chicago Bulls, but in the second season he was relegated to the bench, after which he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In Cleveland, Markkanen took over the place from the opening by changing his style of play from the deterrence of long throws to an even more defensive and overall more comprehensive one. He purposely honed his physique to become more explosive, which allowed him to transition from the familiar big winger position to a small winger who has to defend against smarter opponents.

After a good last season, the transfer for this season to the Utah Jazz was a shock, which Markkanen himself admitted, but it turned out to be a stroke of luck that has catapulted the Finn into the real elite.

The Jazz were called a tail-end team, which was even thought to be built to lose, so that it would get the best possible reserve shifts as the building blocks of a future champion team. Markkanes immediately emerged as a real star in new circles, who has pushed his team into the race for a direct playoff spot.

He is the Jazz’s most efficient player and ranks 18th in the NBA’s points market with a per game average of 24.9. Along with the points, his versatile credit role is significant. He typically plays the most for his team. He also pockets baskets with a wider selection of methods than before: he doesn’t just throw from behind the arc, but often drives closer, even to dunk this one.

A stellar weekend the events in Salt Lake City start already on Friday, when the matches of future promises and celebrities are organized.

On Saturday evening, starting at 3 a.m. Finnish time on Sunday morning, a skills competition consisting of different parts will be organized, as well as a three-point throwing competition and a donkey competition. Markkanen has always been known for his triplets, but he himself would prefer a donkey race, which typically attracts the greatest interest of the public.

Although the players for the all-star match have been selected separately from the Western and Eastern Conferences, it is not an East-West match and the lineups of the teams are not yet known. The players with the most votes, the Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James from the West and the Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo from the east, picked the players as captains for their own teams “by division”, i.e. alternately from all the players selected for the line, only right before the match.

The sound king James starts. First, they divide among themselves the players voted into the starting crew, and then the substitutes.

In addition to the captains, the West voted for the start Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) and Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans) and from the East Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets), Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).

Along with Markkanen, he was elected to the bench from the west And Morant (Memphis Grizzlies), Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma Thunder), Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers) Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) and from the east Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls), Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Julius Randle (New York Knicks), and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers).