Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen Reveals His World Cup Plans for the Summer

While Utah Jazz F Lauri Markkanen is currently spending his time in Finland fulfilling his military service duty, it looks as if he'll spend more time in his country's uniform, but this time it'll be on the court.

According to a tweet from Tony Jones of The Athletic, Markkanen announced his plan to play for Finland this summer after his mandatory service.

Lauri Markkanen said he is planning on playing in the World Cup this summer
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) April 24, 2023

Markkanen was a part of Finland's national team last summer during the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. Now with a chance to compete in the tournament, Markkanen brings some necessary star power to a Finnish roster that lacks any other NBA-level talent.

When Markkanen has played for Finland, the team has been able to find significant success. During last summer's qualifying rounds, the team went on a 5-game win-streak in order to secure first place in their group, advancing to the second round. They then proceeded to get a 9-3 record in the second round in order to guarentee a spot in the tournament.

Last summer also helped Markkanen make some amazing strides within his career, as it led to an eventual Most Improved Player award and several career-highs across the board. Who knows? Maybe another offseason of FIBA play for Lauri could help improve his game even more!

This will be Finland's second time qualifying for the World Cup, with their last appearance being in 2014, finishing 22nd overall. Markkanen will look to help the team reach better results in his first-ever appearance playing in the tournament.

Here's what Markkanen had to say about his decision to suit up for Finland's national team according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype:

Yeah. That was a big thing for us. I think we were the first country other than the host country to qualify. That’s our first-time basketball performance-wise qualifying. It was a big thing for us. I always want to represent the country, and I’m looking forward to it.

The World Cup draw will be shown via live broadcast on April 29th, while the play will officially begin later this summer on August 25th. The cup will span over the duration of two weeks until it officially ends on September 10th.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!