YEAR ISLAND. A basketball player Mikael Jantunen his head leans against the door frame as he lets guests into his childhood home in Helsinki’s Vuosaari. A brisk greeting and immediate enthusiasm for the guests’ interest in sports underline the story of a young wolf gang member.
When the recent Belgian champion has returned to his home to present the basketball memories of his childhood home, the eyes shine with the same enthusiasm as a child who has been able to hustle with the ball he loves.
Jantunen takes a quick look at the family’s shared living spaces, but it quickly becomes clear that as a child, time was spent elsewhere than in the living room by the sofa. The sports-loving young man grew up playing yard games, who wanted to play so much as a child that even stress fractures were unavoidable.
– My room is downstairs. We’ll see what condition it’s in. The room has probably remained the same for the last five years, Jantunen says and starts to take the guests towards the basement.
Jantunen’s room in the basement feels low for the now 22-year-old and 204-centimetre basketball player, but for the 12-year-old basketball fan, the space is good enough. The toy basket that has been in active use is still hanging on the wall.
– If free throws go in well these days, it’s thanks to this basket. You can’t just hang on to the iron, but yes, this is something that has been done, Jantunen laughs and twists a small iron in his hands.
On the wall of the room hang two jerseys, which are of great importance to Jantuse. The black jersey has the number 29 and the text Wartti-Basket. The blue and white shirt next to it has the number 18 on the chest and of course a wolf howls in the logo.
– The only clubs I have played for in Finland are Wartti-Basket and HBA-Märsky, Jantunen begins.
Jantunen, who played football, was enticed to try basketball at the age of 10. The midfielder taller than a head had attracted the attention of the father of a teammate who was coaching basketball.
Now he treats the black jersey like a valuable museum piece as he carefully lifts it down from its place.
– After a couple of weeks from that first tryout, I got this jersey and we were on our way. Number 29 came as a given, and I guess it should have been changed, but when the game started right away, it remained in use. In Märsky, the number was probably reserved, so then I changed to number 18, which I now have in the club and national team.
The story of the national team shirt hanging on the wall is more modest.
– This is a shirt that didn’t have a name on the back. That’s why it was possible to hang it there nicely. I did try to get my first national team shirt, but they didn’t agree to give it to me, Jantunen grins.
Football and basketball until my legs couldn’t take it
The long side of the room is lined with a multi-level shoe rack, which, without a lie, has dozens of pairs of different basketball shoes. Jantunen looks through the shoes and finally grabs the red, black and white shoes in his hands.
– If you had to choose some shoes from these, it would probably be these. In times of need, you could also play basketball with these, says Jantunen and introduces the world’s most famous basketball player Michael Jordan’s the Air Jordans made famous in their time.
Jantunen has collected a huge number of shoes in his room, but for practical reasons. The man’s shoe size is number 49.5, so you can’t get new shoes at just any auto store.
– Yes, those clips of Jordan’s highlights have probably all been hidden, but as a child, the role models were found for a long time in football. If you have to highlight role models from basketball, yes Dirk Nowitzki as a player of your own playing field, there is certainly one significant one. In the national team, I followed closely Teemu Rannikon, Hanno Möttölän and of course Lauri Markkanen grooves, Jantunen says.
Football can really be seen in Jantunen’s room as well, although according to the story, basketball and football memorabilia have been distributed to the father’s and mother’s addresses and now we are there in the home of “basketball memorabilia”.
– Football was everything when I was little. We have a kindergarten photo that says I liked to kick the ball when I was two years old, Jantunen remembers and looks at the FC Barcelona fan scarf still hanging on the wall.
– I remember that at school it was the biggest disappointment ever, if you couldn’t join the games of vitos and kutos graders during recess as a third grader. Then you didn’t even like studying if you didn’t get to play.
Jantunen played soccer whenever he could until he was 10–11 years old. In addition to his own training, he also joined the training of his sister, who is three years older. When basketball came into play, I finally had to make a choice.
– I played basketball with two age groups and one with a futsal team. It was just too much and I ended up with stress fractures in my heel and ankle. The body couldn’t handle that amount, Jantunen says.
In the end, two reasons influenced the choice of basketball above all others. Friends and the desire to win. Close friends played in Wartti-Basket and the team did excellently.
In the trophy cabinet in Jantunen’s childhood room, there are trophies and medals that he wanted to work hard for as a junior.
– That is probably one of the reasons why we are here today. I’m really competitive. You couldn’t play board games with me when I was a kid because I’d crash all night if I lost. Nowadays, I can probably manage it better, but then I couldn’t stand losing at all, Jantunen laughs.
Right from the first basketball practice, Jantunen felt that basketball was his thing. The inspiring coach allowed the young boy to extensively test his skills on the field, and didn’t just place a taller player under the basket to wait for balls.
– Often the tall ones are made to do things near the basket, but I was taught the spin-move first. Of course, there are fewer tall players, but it was a big benefit that I could also do the things of the back man. It has shaped my way of playing, when I can bring the ball up as a big player, praises Jantunen, who plays as a winger.
Throwing training with my sister
– The situation is 1-1! By the way, I have sometimes beaten Micke in this game, Karoliina Jantunen laughs while throwing the ball into the basket on the basketball court near Jantuste’s home.
Mikael Jantunen started basketball by today’s standards late, but the huge number of yard games inevitably helped his rapid growth in the sport.
– The guys came from Vuosaari, so if there was no training, we gathered a group and went to the outdoor fields to play. We played whenever possible. If the weather was bad, we went to Liikuntamylly, which was the nearest free indoor hall. It was very important that you could play easily, Jantunen says and grabs the rebound from his sister.
A young boy came to this field in Jantuste’s yard often late into the evening with his father.
– We always came here if we had a bad feeling from training or a game. Father often came to return the ball, because of course the throws were often quite late. This was a good place to vent a bad mood. We came to throw the five coppers into the pipe or something. Usually, whenever I stopped, I was already in a better mood.
Now Mikael and Karoliina Jantunen are playing a familiar game from childhood called 21, where the player’s goal is to be the first to collect 21 points.
– I must have been 12 years old when I lost to my sister in this game. That was probably something that was mourned all night, Jantunen grins and sinks in the free throw.
This time, the sister has no more chances, but the victory goes to the family’s basketball professional with a score of 21–3.
– Maybe it was that one loss at the age of 12 that started the whole basketball career, Karoliina laughs.
Due to Karoliina’s football and basketball hobbies, Mikael also had a playmate in his own family as a child. And maybe this 21 game of the siblings’ childhood has an effect on the current national team player’s way of playing, because rebounds are very valuable in this competition as well, which of course they were also in junior games in Wartti-Basket.
Jantunen’s ability to take on different roles on the field is still a quality that coaches like.
– At some point I wasn’t a terribly good thrower, so I had to somehow find a way to get the ball. I noticed that when I went hard for rebounds, others backed off. That’s where it started, when points started coming in by going for offensive rebounds, Jantunen mumbles.
With friends in the national team
After the basketball competition, it’s time to return to Jantusten’s childhood home for a while.
In addition to the thousands of hours spent chasing the ball in Vuosaari and the change of sport in time, Jantunen points to the turning point in his basketball career when he decided to pursue his basketball dream in high school.
– I had attended a Swedish-language school first in Vuosaari and then in Puotila. My friends went to a Swedish-speaking high school after middle school, and I thought for a long time whether I should do the same or switch to a Finnish-speaking high school and apply to Mäkelänrinne Sports High School, Jantunen says.
The choice has not been regretted. Mäkelänrinte, or “Märsky”, has become the heart of Finnish national team basketball, and now the majority of Susijeng’s players have attended the same school or at least have a close connection to it.
– Now it’s embarrassing if I forget someone, Jantunen smiles as he lists about a dozen high school friends who are now also part of the national team ring.
– After all, it’s nice when we’ve spent the summer with our friends in Susijeng, then we’ll go to the club teams for a while and get to play with our friends again. Of course, it also makes it easier for us when we know each other well, Jantunen continues.
At the end of the visit, Jantunen still wants to introduce one of his good teammates. One of Jantusen’s idols, Susijeng star Sasu Salin, peeks out from the corner of the room. According to Jantunen, however, as an “almost life-size” cardboard figure.
– If I’m in a bad mood, I can come here to my childhood home and see when Sasu is smiling there. You’ll feel better right away. I’ve been asked many times if I can throw this away already, but I can’t, Jantunen laughs.
It seems to be true. Vuosaari has everything a person needs.
You can watch Mikael Jantunen’s Juuret episode on Areena. In the series, you can also get to know the stories of Elias Valtonen, Sasu Salin, Lauri Markkanen and Lassi Tuov.