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Lauri Markkanen after the end of the NBA regular season decided to report for military service in Finland.
After the NBA regular season ended, Lauri Markkanen, an All-Star forward for the Utah Jazz, started to serve his country of Finland in the military.
The Jazz earlier this week shared a picture of Markkanen reporting for duty on social media, and the 25-year-old then shared a picture of his fresh buzz cut on Instagram, telling followers that his "curls will be back."
In an interview with journalists a week or so after Utah was ruled out of the playoffs, Markkanen revealed that military duty is required in Finland before the age of 30.
Lauri Markkanen on Finland military service
He said, “I just figured if we’re not going to playing in the postseason this year, then it’s going to be a good time to do it now, instead of just postponing it and then eventually having to do it in a time that wouldn’t work so well for me.
“I definitely don’t want it to affect the basketball part, so we’ll figure out how to do a combination.
Markkanen can choose to finish his military duty over two summers but its is mandatory.
Markkanen is based at the Defence Forces Sports School in Helsinki, which is intended to train reconnaissance teams for emergency and wartime conditions and also provides sports instruction for athletes during military duty, according to his agent, Michael Lelchitski.
The average length of service is six months. Lauri will represent Finland in the forthcoming FIBA World Cup this summer, as well as the Utah Jazz in the future 2023–24 season, thus it is yet unclear exactly how and where he will finish his duty.
With an average of 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game this season, the towering forward has had a career season.
Along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, he was named a finalist for the NBA's Most Improved Player award on Wednesday.
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