The Utah Jazz have been one of the surprising teams in the NBA this season. They got off to a strong start and for a while held one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference standings. They've since come back down to earth a little bit but they still are in the mix for one of the spots in the play-in tournament. They've been led this season by Lauri Markkanen in his first year as a member of the Jazz. He's arguably put together an All-Star caliber season to this point and now he's enlisted the help of teammate and Jazz rookie Walker Kessler to mount a campaign to try and ensure that he gets to represent the hometown team in Salt Lake City at All-Star Weekend.
Walker Kessler – Lauri Markkanen's All-Star Game campaign manager (orig. source: Utah Jazz socials) pic.twitter.com/CWA82gGMRm
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) January 6, 2023
Walker Kessler's video and campaign to promote Lauri Markkanen as an All-Star may be hilarious and all fun and games but he does have a point. Markkanen arrived this off-season in the trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now in his sixth season in the NBA, the former No. 7 overall pick is enjoying the best season of his career. He is putting up 24.5 points per game and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 42 percent from the three-point line. In his last game, Markkanen dropped a career-high 49 points in a win over the Houston Rockets.
Behind Markkanen's play, the Jazz currently sit at 20-21 and in 10th place in the Western Conference. That would be good enough to grab one of the play-in spots, but they are only a game and a half back of the 6th seed Los Angeles Clippers and not having to participate in the play-in tournament.
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