The Utah Jazz may have cooled down after their hot start this 2022-23 season, but Lauri Markkanen continues to ball out for the team and that should be enough to get him to the All-Star Game. That is the belief of Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine, who saw firsthand how dominant the Finnish star can be.
Chicago beat Utah on Saturday 126-118, but not after the Jazz made life hard for them. Of course Markkanen was at the forefront of a strong Utah comeback in the third quarter, as he and Jordan Clarkson combined to score 21 of the team's 40 points in the period.
While the Jazz eventually fell short, Markkanen's performance was enough to convince LaVine that he's an All-Star.
“He’s 100 percent an All-Star to me,” LaVine said of his former Bulls teammate, per KC Johnson of NBC Sports.
Lauri Markkanen is averaging 24.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game this 2022-23, helping the Jazz stay in the playoff race despite their recent struggles. With that said, he definitely has a good case to be an All-Star in the West as Zach LaVine said.
It won't be easy, though, especially considering the number of incredible frontcourt players in the conference. In the first round of All-Star voting, Markkanen is seventh among other frontcourt players, trailing the likes of LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson.
Sure enough it's still early in the voting. If the Jazz can turn things around and climb back up in the West standings in the next couple of weeks, Markkanen will definitely have a better chance of making it to the All-Star Game–even as a reserve.
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