Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy said there was a narrative surrounding Lauri Markkanen heading into his first season with the Jazz, and not a good one.
"European perimeter based 7-footer; it's easy to just stamp a label on somebody and go 'Oh, he's soft,'" Hardy said.
After the season Markkanen just had, that narrative is done. He became the first player ever to record 200 3-pointers and 100 dunks in the same season — with many of those dunks right on top of defenders.
Soft? Hardly.
"He plays a very physical style, he's physically strong, he's mentally very, very tough," Hardy said. "He's as steady as anybody I've been around from an approach standpoint, so that was very quick to kind of wipe away."
And with that a new narrative has started to form; one that includes Markkanen being among the elite players in the game. Monday's announcement that he won the NBA's Most Improved Player — the first Jazz player to win the award — only established that further.
"It would be pretty cool just in the regard that I have put in a lot of work and just seeing it pay off," Markkanen said in the final days of the season. "It would mean a lot."
Markkanen received 69 out of 100 first-place votes.
Markkanen made one of the more surprising leaps in recent memory. He went from a third or fourth starter to a leading man, averaging a ridiculously efficient 25.6 points (a little over 10 points more than he averaged last season). He shot nearly 40% from 3-point range and 59% on his 2-point shots.
The most exciting part? He thinks he has another leap in him.
In early March, Markkanen spent the last few minutes of a shootaround putting one-footed fadeways. Over and over again he pivoted in the corner and fired up 3-pointers.
Jazz general manager Justin Zanik walked by and sarcastically said, "Dirk!"
It wasn't the first time Markkanen has been compared to Dirk Nowitzki. Most of those have been lazy analysis — both are European 7-footers who can shoot — but is there something to it?
"I understand that comparisons to Dirk," said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, who was Nowitzki's longtime coach in Dallas. "When Dirk was that age I was getting a lot of questions comparing him to Larry Bird. With Markkanen becoming an All-Star and carrying a load on a team, when they surround him with exact right players … that will only enhance his future in the game."
The unique thing about Markkanen is he can partner with just about any other player. He showed in his first year in Utah that he doesn't even need plays called for him to put up 30 points.
This season, he's shown he can be one of the most valuable pieces a championship team can have: a star that doesn't need the ball in his hands.
Hardy did a masterful job putting Markkanen in positions to succeed. Markkanen got a lot of points on aggressive cuts to the rim, on pick and pops and the Jazz were able to generate plenty of open looks for him on the perimeter, too.
Markkanen's a "modern-day player" as New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau put it, who took advantage of the right opportunity.
But if he is to be a true bonafide No. 1 option in the NBA, Markkanen knows he needs to be able to create for himself. And that's the key to making yet another leap.
"He's really forceful when he catches the ball on the move, but we're trying to work on him generating some of that on his own from a standstill," Hardy said.
That's why the Jazz have been working on him getting lower when he has the ball, and working on his reads on drives. And maybe it's why he's practicing some more Nowitzki-esque shots, too. It's a way for him to create space for himself. It's a way for him to continue to improve.
After a season that Markkanen proved he was more than just a role player, he's off to prove he's more than just another All-Star.
"I think I got a lot better throughout the year but it also showed me how much better I can get with having the ball in my hands and making decisions for myself and my teammates," Markkanen said. "And so it's gonna be an exciting summer and I'm really looking forward to working on that stuff."
