Lauri Markkanen is a professional basketball player who plays for Utah Jazz as a small forward. He hails from Finland and was given the nickname “the Finnisher” upon entering the NBA. Minnesota Timberwolves selected them in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft and later traded him to Chicago Bulls.
After the Bulls, he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers for one season before joining Utah Jazz. This year, the Finnisher was given the most improved player award, an honor given annually to the player who exhibited great progress compared to their previous seasons.
Let’s explore more about the story.
Why Lauri Markkanen wins NBA’s most improved player award?
This season is undoubtedly the best season for Lauri as he surpassed with flying colors and his joy is absolutely legit as he has been named NBA’s most improved player this year. In his three previous seasons, the Finnish player was hovering around an average of 15 points per game two of which were with the Chicago Bulls and the third one was with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But this season, the Jazz star was already on a new hype when he chopped down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brunson of the New York Knicks Jalen to be the rightful honor of the award.
The 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Improved Player is… Lauri Markkanen!#KiaMIP#NBAAwards@Kia pic.twitter.com/d41McU0Ras
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2023
Lauri earned his career-best 25.6 points as an average while attaining 49.9% overall shooting and 39.1% from the three-point area. As a first-round 7th overall pick, Lauri Markkanen took a long time to reflect on his capabilities but finally, he seems to have found the track that will lead him to some unprecedented success.
This 25-year-old basketball player made a tough decision back in his early days to move to America and pursue his NBA dream. And finally, with such a victorious achievement, this Utah Jazz player has moved an inch closer to his cherished goal of joining the League of Legends.
