Utah Jazz roll out icy Lauri Markkanen All-Star campaign
Utah #Utah
In mid-December, Lauri Markkanen, his wife and their two children settled in for photos surrounded by six huge 300-pound ice blocks, a backboard made of ice and an ice sculpture of a basketball.
It was the perfect setting for Christmas card photos that would be sent out to all of their friends and family.
“We set the standard very high for next year,” Markkanen said with a laugh.
But the photoshoot — set up by the Utah Jazz — wasn’t created just for the Markkanen family to take some fun holiday pictures. It was actually a set that was tailor made for Markkanen to promote his All-Star campaign.
Ben Barnes, the Jazz’s senior brand director, looked forward to the 2023 NBA All-Star game and wanted to pay homage to the 90’s since Utah is hosting the All-Star festivities for the first time since 1993.
Looking at some of the NBA’s posters from the era, Barnes and others in the Jazz organization decided to give Markkanen his own poster. The photos that came out of the photoshoot are going to be used by the Jazz for promotional materials leading up to the All-Star break and posters of Markkanen were sent out to potential All-Star voters.
Markkanen loved that they actually brought in real ice rather than just photoshop in some sculptures that wouldn’t look as real. And, luckily, Vivint Arena has some large freezers that were able to house all of the ice props, because the shoot had to be postponed.
In early December, everything was set for Markkanen to make his way onto the ice set when he came down with a fever that forced him to miss three games.
When Markkanen was finally able to make it onto the set, the photos with his family for the Christmas cards were just a bonus.
Markkanen, a native of Finland, likes the nickname “The Finnisher,” and with Finland being one of the coldest Nordic countries, the Jazz were able to tie together a pretty fitting campaign.
“A stone-cold killer, the 25-year-old can do it all,” reads an info sheet from the Jazz that makes the case for Markkanen to earn an All-Star bid.
“Freeze his man off the dribble, icily iso down low, create a hailstorm of threes from downtown, be cool in crunch time, and shatter the rim with high-flying dunks.”
Though Markkanen’s case for an All-Star selection doesn’t need much campaigning and doesn’t need to be sugar coated to be convincing. He’s averaging career-highs in points, 3-pointers made per game, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.
Additionally, he’s averaging more than 20 points per game on better than 50% shooting from the field and 40% from 3-point range. Only one other player in the NBA has done that this season — Stephen Curry.
Jazz head coach Will Hardy has said that Markkanen’s play speaks for itself when considering whether he deserves to be an All-Star, and Markkanen’s teammates have been campaigning for him all season and continue to do so.
When asked if he believes that he’s an All-Star, Markkanen prefers a more humble approach.
“I’m trying to be,” he said. “I know it all comes down to having team success and just trying to work through it as a team … individual accolades are gonna take care of themselves when we put the work in as a team.”
The 2023 All-Star break will be hosted in Utah Feb. 17-19.