Lauri Markkanen's surreal night: Jazz star takes on Finnish legend in pre-season win

SALT LAKE CITY — As Lauri Markkanen looked around the Delta Center Friday night, he saw a now-familiar sight: hundreds of people wearing his jersey.

Markkanen is now in his eighth season, but seeing these fans still feels surreal.

It may have been even stranger on Friday when Utah beat the New Zealand Breakers 116-87.

The Breakers' head coach was once a player Markkanen idolized – Finnish star Petteri Koponen.

“One of the best there ever was,” said Markkanen, who scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting in 16 minutes. “One of the guys I looked up to as 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.

At his last European Basketball Championship he was accompanied by a talented 18-year-old who would soon become the best player the country has ever produced.

“I just left the U18 tournament to play on the men’s (senior) national team and he helped me make my first basket,” Markkanen said.

The game was an 86-84 win for Finland over France, with Markkanen scoring 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.

That surreal moment returned Friday after watching his childhood hero and former teammate practice against him.

“Who would have thought we would actually meet like this on the NBA floor?” Markkanen said. “It's cool.”

The two spent some time together in Salt Lake City on Thursday night and both rushed out of the arena to have dinner before Koponen and the Breakers left Utah.

For Markkanen, it was certainly a turning point and a realization of how far he has come as a basketball player. Undoubtedly there are 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 high school forward who visited the Utes last month.

“He's really talented. I don't know him that well personally. I trained with him like once,” Markkanen said of Muurinen. “And then there’s a Finnish boy playing in Utah. We're slowly creeping in here. We have a few hockey players – the Finns are going to take over Utah.”

Hey, at least he's already taken over selling Jazz jerseys.

“I always try to get back to the next games, but it's 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. “About that,” he said.