Walker Kessler wants Utah Jazz teammate Lauri Markkanen to test him during the FIBA World Cup

Walker Kessler is looking at laying the smackdown on Lauri Markkanen in the FIBA World Cup.

The FIBA World Cup serves as one of the biggest international basketball tournaments in the world, with maybe only the Olympics serving as a bigger showcase of international talent in the world. It’s a time to celebrate peace through hoops and highlight the best the world has to offer in all of the far-flung places that don’t get much love.

It’s a time to come together and for Utah Jazz player Walker Kessler, a time to slap Lauri Markkanen around. Speaking to JP Chunga of the Roundball Round Podcast via the Utah Jazz’s YouTube channel, Kessler was asked who he wanted to block during the FIBA World Cup, and the first name that came to mind was a teammate.

That teammate was of course Markkanen, as Kessler would go on to be quoted (by Sports Illustrated) as saying;

"Lauri—I want Lauri to try and dunk on me, and I block him and just look at him. But obviously, it goes hand and hand because he might sneak one past me and dunk on me. And even if that happened, I was—I don’t know what we would—we would probably laugh about it, but yeah, I’d say Lauri."

Obviously, Kessler is being light-hearted in his comments. Clearly, the Jazz’s best offensive and defensive players don’t have animosity, and in fact, it sounds like a sign of respect that Kessler would want to test himself against a player of Markkanen’s caliber.

There’s just one problem, however, as the only time any pair of Utah Jazz teammates are going to meet in the first round of the FIBA World Cup tournament will be when The Philippines and Jordan Clarkson take on Italy and Simone Fontecchio on Aug. 29, 2023.

Outside of that, any other clash between Jazz teammates will only be possible if their respective teams make it to the second round. Otherwise, Kessler’s dream of blocking Markkanen may not even be possible.