Lauri Markkanen is better than last season, but his neglect was still not surprising, writes journalist Tommi Hannula.
The Utah Jazz the undisputed king Lauri Markkanen would have deserved to be selected for the basketball NBA league all-star game like last season.
The Finn leads a playoff-fighting team that has improved tremendously during the season. His personal effectiveness is at last season's level, although opponents guarded him more closely last season. He distributes the ball to his teammates more and more, defends better and shows even more leadership.
In short, he's a better player than he was last season, when he broke into the NBA's elite and was a historic All-Star selection.
Still, Markkanen's sidelining this time was not surprising.
Utah Jazz plays in the NBA's Western Conference, which is generally considered tougher than the East. The competition for selections seemed tighter than last season, and Markkanen did not have the special stardust of a player making a big breakthrough, as was the case last season, when he was awarded as the league's most developed player.
Winger Markkanen is counted as a frontcourt player. The three frontcourt positions in the opening five of the West were selected already last week LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns) and Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets). It was clear that Markkanen wouldn't fit there.
Four frontcourt players were selected for the Western bench: Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers), Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers), Paul George (Los Angeles Clippers) and Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves).
Leonard and Davis were practically considered safe picks, but Markkanen could have been imagined ahead of George or Towns.
Still, it is not at all clear that Markkanen would have been chosen immediately next, because for example those who had a great season were left out Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings) and Alperen Şengün (Houston Rockets) as well Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans), who last season was chosen to open the all-star game – where Markkanen stepped up after he was injured.
The choice were made by the coaches of 30 NBA teams, but you could get a hint of Markkanen's appreciation this season from the voting of the starting lineups announced a week ago. Markkanen was only in the competition for the three frontcourt player positions in the Western Conference ranked 13th.
The starting line-up was chosen by fans, NBA players and media representatives. Markkanen was 12th in the fans' vote and 15th in the players' vote. In the media vote, he was 9th, but it came off with only one mention, i.e. it did not give as valid a picture of the appreciation as the multiple votes of fans and players.
The overall results of the coaches' bench voting were apparently not published, at least not immediately after the selections were announced.
Read more: Lauri Markka was not selected for the star match
Read more: Lauri Markkanen may well miss out on the NBA All-Star Game, even though he was better last season
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