Lauri Markkanen sat on the edge of the raised podium floor and stretched his legs across the carpet. <\/p>\n
The 7-foot-1 forward had just finished a Jazz practice, but there was no shortness of breath \u2014 or brief responses \u2014 as he answered a reporter\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n
The only real sign of Markkanen\u2019s fatigue was the small beads of sweat on his forehead that he periodically wiped off with the white towel draped over his shoulder. <\/p>\n
He was relaxed. <\/p>\n
After all, the 29-year-old will soon start his 10th NBA season. And he\u2019d given hundreds, if not thousands, of interviews before. <\/p>\n
Finally, the last question arrived \u2014 it was the question tied to his career. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re that active player who\u2019s played in most games without making the playoffs \u2014 \u201d this reporter began.<\/p>\n
Markkanen knew the narrative well, and he jumped in.<\/p>\n
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\u201cActually, not true,\u201d he interjected. \u201cI\u2019ve missed games due to injury \u2014 Miles Bridges went by me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Markkanen was correct. Bridges overtook him with 501 games, to his 492. Still, Markkanen leads active players in career points without a playoff appearance. <\/p>\n
Those stats, though, don\u2019t seem to bother him. <\/p>\n
He believes it\u2019s all in the past, and he\u2019s focused on the now. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it just hasn\u2019t happened to me,\u201d he told The Salt Lake Tribune. \u201cLike, I\u2019ve been a part of teams that haven\u2019t been as successful, and like the chemistry piece maybe didn\u2019t hit as well as we wanted to, or there\u2019s been injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, I want to be in the playoffs every year, and it just hasn\u2019t happened to me, but it\u2019s not an extra burden on my back heading into this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is an important year for Markkanen and the Jazz. For the first time in his Utah tenure, the Jazz have expectations. Making the playoffs is just one part of his and the Jazz\u2019s goals. <\/p>\n
The ultimate one, of course, is to win a championship. Still, just a playoff appearance can help rewrite the narrative around his career. <\/p>\n
And he understands that. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is part of my story, but it doesn\u2019t have to define the ending,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen speaks during media day in Salt Lake City, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
Expectations, finally<\/p>\n
Markkanen arrived in Utah before the 2022-23 season as the centerpiece of the Donovan Mitchell trade. <\/p>\n
That season, the Finnish native became an All-Star. His points increased to 25.6 from 14.8 in the previous season in Cleveland, and his efficiency skyrocketed. <\/p>\n
The result was also the most wins he\u2019s seen in his Jazz tenure: 37. But it also showed the Jazz\u2019s priorities. Utah traded Mike Conley at the trade deadline and limped to the finish. <\/p>\n
Over the next three seasons, the Jazz won 31, 17 and 22 games as the organization chased lottery odds over wins. <\/p>\n
Markkanen went from a rising 25-year-old All-Star to the face of a rebuild. <\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t easy for Markkanen or the Jazz. Frustration surfaced at different points in each season. <\/p>\n
Losing takes a toll \u2014 tanking or not. And it required honest conversations between Markkanen and coach Will Hardy. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to win, too. We all do,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re not winning, there\u2019s a collective frustration, but we\u2019ve made sure to communicate and recognize that misguided anger is very dangerous. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to take those things out on our own group. We\u2019re all in it together. We all want the same thing. We all want to win \u2026 to be a championship-caliber team one day.\u201d <\/p>\n
The path to a championship team will take time \u2014 has already taken time. Hardy and the Jazz understand that. <\/p>\n
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) during an NBA preseason game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Most sportsbooks project Utah at an over\/under at 36.5 wins. Markkanen, though, believes the Jazz can be much better than that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we all see how good of a group we have,\u201d Markkanen said. \u201cWe see the talent we have on the court when we scrimmage; it might be a different guy every day that gets it going. We are really talented.\u201d <\/p>\n
Markkanen feels the excitement among Jazz fans, too \u2014 both in person and online. And he\u2019s pretty online, so there\u2019s a good chance he\u2019s seen a post if you\u2019ve tagged him in it. <\/p>\n
He appreciates Jazz fans for supporting the team even amidst the rebuild. And he\u2019s ready to reward those fans\u2019 patience. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really positive about our group, and we really think that we can do big things,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, I\u2019ve been around for this; it\u2019s my 10th year, so I also know that every year has its own challenges. You can\u2019t predict what it\u2019s going to be, but I think we\u2019re all getting ready, like we\u2019re staying positive and working together. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think our locker room is really healthy, and the way we communicate with the coaching staff, like I think we\u2019re ready to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n
That open dialogue with the coaching staff and head coach Will Hardy didn\u2019t happen overnight. <\/p>\n
A relationship built on friendship<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take very long for Markkanen to realize that he wanted to play for Hardy. <\/p>\n
It happened after one talk. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing he said to me was, \u2018The player I was at the EuroBasket, he wants that version here,\u2019\u201d Markkanen recalled. <\/p>\n
That player? The one who put up 27.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game to lead Finland to a seventh-place finish. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat really hit me; he wants me to be played the same way and (with the) same aggression that I played for the national team,\u201d Markkanen said. \u201cI think that\u2019s where our relationship [started]. I was like, \u2018I can do that,\u2019 and he was excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four years later, Markkanen says they understand each other on a human level, and he considers Hardy a friend as well as a coach.<\/p>\n
That relationship has helped them navigate some difficult seasons.<\/p>\n
Sometimes Hardy would call Markkanen after a game to talk about what went wrong and where Markkanen needed to be better. Other times, it was Markkanen who reached out to Hardy to ask how he could help the team more.<\/p>\n
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) during an NBA preseason game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tells me the harsh truth sometimes, like I\u2019m messing up or whatever,\u201d Markkanen said. \u201cSo I love to have that, and I like [to have] a coach who coaches me hard and pushes me. I want to be as good a player as I can be. So he\u2019s definitely pushing me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their conversations haven\u2019t been limited to the frustrations of the present. They\u2019ve also focused on what the Jazz could become.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauri and I have had a ton of honest conversations about whether it\u2019s individual frustration or our desires or hopes and dreams for the future,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cI think those things are very important to say out loud.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, it was a no-brainer for Markkanen to sign a contract extension in 2024, even amid uncertainty about when the Jazz would become a winning team. <\/p>\n
Yes, he and his family love Utah, and the financial security of signing a contract extension was nice, but the main draw to stay was Hardy and the Jazz\u2019s front office. <\/p>\n
He was impressed by the resumes of those within the Jazz\u2019s front office, such as Danny (and later Austin) Ainge. And Hardy\u2019s coaching style and ideas got him to buy in year one. <\/p>\n
A lot has changed since that first year.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a different person and player than he was when he first came to Salt Lake as a 25-year-old. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a player, he\u2019s sort of redefined his standing in terms of what people think of him, how they think of him playing on the court, like maybe the style,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cThat\u2019s a credit to him and all the work he\u2019s put in. I think he\u2019s improved in a variety of areas, but [especially] the maturity that he\u2019s shown throughout the last four years, the way he interacts with teammates.\u201d <\/p>\n
Even as losses piled up, Markkanen and the Jazz took the long view. Hardy put him in different situations on the court to expand his game, and Markkanen discovered his voice as a leader.<\/p>\n
While other veterans moved on through free agency or trades, Markkanen stayed, trusting that the rebuild would work. <\/p>\n
Now, the Jazz believe they have the talent to take a meaningful step forward. For Markkanen, this season offers his clearest opportunity yet to reach the playoffs and change the narrative surrounding his career.<\/p>\n
His story isn\u2019t finished. <\/p>\n
And after years of rebuilding, the Jazz are ready to see what the next chapter holds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not a finished product yet as individuals,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cWe\u2019re not a finished product yet as a group, and we have to maintain that focus that each day is just a piece in our story as we are becoming. What we ultimately become will be a result of all the work that\u2019s gone into the process and how everybody carries themselves through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
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