Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — When Lauri Markkanen looked around the Delta Center on Friday night, he saw what is now a familiar sight: hundreds of people wearing his jersey.
Markkanen is now in his eighth season, but seeing those fans still feels surreal.
It may have been even stranger on Friday during Utah's 116-87 Utah Jazz victory over the New Zealand Breakers.
The head coach roaming the sideline for the Breakers was once a player that Markkanen idolized — Finnish great Petteri Koponen.
"One of the best ones ever to do it," said Markkanen, who had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 16 minutes. "One of the guys I looked up to when I was a kid."
Koponen played for Finland at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and also represented his country at EuroBasket 2011, EuroBasket 2013, EuroBasket 2015, and EuroBasket 2017.
In his final EuroBasket, he was joined by a talented 18-year-old, who would soon become the best player the country ever produced.
"I just came off the Under-18 tournament to play on the men's (senior national) team, and he assisted me on my first bucket," Markkanen said.
The game was an 86-84 Finland win over France, where Markkanen burst onto the scene with 22 points.
"It was a surreal moment for me to actually train and play with him after looking up to him my whole childhood," he said.
Coach @KoponenPetteri#Susijengipic.twitter.com/bGyB3oWnQ8
— Lauri Markkanen (@MarkkanenLauri) October 5, 2024
That surreal moment returned on Friday after seeing his childhood hero and former teammate coaching against him.
"Who would have thought that we actually would meet on the NBA floor like that?" Markkanen said. "It's cool."
The two spent some time together on Thursday night in Salt Lake City, and both hurried out of the arena to grab dinner before Koponen and the Breakers left Utah.
It was a full-circle moment for Markkanen, for sure, and a realization of how far he's come as a basketball player. There are undoubtedly young players in Finland who look up to him as he once did with Koponen.
Players like University of Utah guard Miro Little and forward Miikka Muurinen, a top forward high school prospect who visited the Utes last month.
"He's really talented. I don't know him personally that well. I worked out with him, like once," Markkanen said of Muurinen. "And then there's a Finnish kid playing at Utah already. We are slowly creeping in here. We've got a couple of hockey players — Finnish people are going to take Utah over."
Hey, he's already taken over Jazz jersey sales, at least.
"I always try to get back to those next ones coming up, but it is surreal, like my eighth year in the league and just seeing my jersey in the crowd — it's a good feeling, and I don't think you really get used to it," he said.
