NBA sends doctor to ‘verify’ Lauri Markkanen’s new injury
The The NBA has been closely following the Utah Jazz’s maneuvers on the injury front in the past few weeks, he even fined them a whopping $500,000 for holding onto their key players such as Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. out of the game in the fourth quarter of a tight game despite reportedly being healthy.
Jackson would eventually undergo season-ending surgery to remove a growth on his left knee, and now, Markkanen reportedly suffered an injury in training, which could force him to miss even more time — maybe even the rest of the Jazz season.
Rumor has it that the NBA isn’t exactly happy with the timing of Markkanen’s injury and the circumstances surrounding this alleged hit the Finnish star suffered in training. According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, he “hears” that “the league is sending independent doctors to check” whether the injury suffered by the Jazz star is legitimate.
Considering the Jazz’s injury record over the past few seasons, the NBA’s vigilance should come as no surprise. Even then, Jazz would argue that these decisions of theirs only come as a result of a system that promotes such shenanigans in the first place.
Jazz’s hands have been tied in the last year of a blatant tank job
No fan could argue that Jazz doesn’t broadcast the obvious. They owe their first-round pick this year to the Oklahoma City Thunder if their pick falls outside the top eight, and while that wouldn’t be the most devastating thing in the world, they’d much rather keep that asset and see if the player they drafted becomes a long-term goaltender than watch the rich get richer.
Even then, the Jazz are just playing the game; as the old saying goes, don’t hate the player, hate the game. Clearly, the NBA needs to make a few changes to discourage this level of shenanigans, but until they are outlawed, Jazz should not suffer to this degree.
2026-02-26 03:40:00
