Lauri Markkanen’s right shoulder problem is currently by far the most talked about sports injury in Finland, writes Urheilu’s editor Timo Uusitalo.
Finland and Utah Jazz star player Lauri Markkanen told the general public on June 3 that he would skip Susijeng’s Olympic qualifiers and that he would fix the shoulder problem that had been bothering him since December with physical therapy and thorough muscle care.
Markkanen’s NBA club had previously announced that the Finn suffers from tight shoulder syndrome, the symptoms of which – as in Markkanen’s case – often start spontaneously, but the symptoms can also be caused by overexertion and a minor accident.
– I suddenly woke up in the morning in the hotel, and I couldn’t move my hand in any direction. You could imagine that something happened in the previous day’s game, but no single reason was found on the video, explained Markkanen about the first symptom of his shoulder injury.
Markkanen and his support team are confident at this point that the injury has been taken care of during the summer, and the shoulder will no longer bother him since the fall.
Surgery is only needed for the injury in question if 3-6 months of physiotherapy has not achieved the desired result. Surgical treatment usually means laparoscopic surgery.
Mega deal
Lauri Markkase, who turned 27 last month, is facing negotiations for a mega-class NBA contract. The current contract concluded in the summer of 2021 expires in the summer of 2025.
The Utah Jazz can offer Markkanen a new contract after August 6 at the earliest, which would link the team’s number one player to the Jazz organization for a long time. Starting next season, the Jyväskylä native will earn 18 million dollars, but in the future the annual salary should double.
The total earnings of Finland’s all-time basketball player are close to 70 million dollars so far, making him one of the highest-paid Finnish athletes of all time, even before the upcoming lucrative contract.
Markkanen’s annual salary will rise when he is healthy in the future to a level that has been reached by only Kimi Raikkonen. Formula champion Räikkönen has earned more than 300 dollars in his career and a maximum of $45 million per year.
Markkanen’s next long NBA contract is possibly at least close to the so-called maximum contract – if and when he hopefully remains intact. Then the value of the overall contract is in the range of 200–250 million dollars.
Is the Finnish star a player worth a maximum contract? It’s a topical question, and it’s primarily influenced by Markkanen’s current health and his injury history.
Questionable statistics as a problem for Markkanen
The future extension contract is the reason why Markkanen does not want to take stupid risks, even though it is Susijeng’s possible Olympic place.
– That (contract negotiations) is one of the reasons why the shoulder needs to be fixed now. (Shoulder) can potentially affect the negotiations, admits Markkanen directly.
Despite the ragged season, Markkanen’s average points in the last regular season was 23.2, and he grabbed 8.2 rebounds per game.
Markkanen played 55 regular season matches out of a possible 82 last season. In addition to the shoulder, he was also troubled by a hamstring injury and clubfoot-type pains during the season, when he was sometimes hit in the knee and thigh area during the games.
In seven NBA seasons, he has played a total of 403 NBA games, which is 70 percent of the maximum number of regular season games.
Markkanen has never played in the NBA playoffs in his career. Questionable NBA statistics cannot be completely unaffected by the extension contract. She is The basketball player who has played the longest among active players in the NBAwho has no playoff games under his belt.
Finally. Even if Markkanen had been able to play in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers and forge 40 points per game, Susijeng’s reaching the Paris Olympics would still have been behind a big stone. Only one of the six teams in the qualifying group will go to the Games, and even with the help of Markkanen, it would not be likely to topple the high-quality Spain, for example.
Markkanen’s next potential representation in Finland’s prestigious competition is next summer, when the Finnish men’s national basketball team will host Tampere’s first group in the 2025 European Championships.