The NBA fined the Utah Jazz for sitting Lauri Markkanen. Were they right or wrong?

Is Lauri Markkanen injured or not? According to the NBA, he is perfectly healthy and ready to play. According to the Jazz, he's managing a lower back injury that has plagued him much of the season.

The NBA fined the Utah Jazz $100,000 on Wednesday, noting Markkanen's absence as a 'star player' in the Utah Jazz's March 5 outing against the equally bad Washington Wizards.

In an immediate response, the Jazz responded by making Markkanen available for their next game, the same day against the Memphis Grizzlies, reversing course from their earlier injury report:

It's odd that the NBA chose *now* for hand out this punishment

Historically, the NBA fines teams for inconsistent statements about a player's health or injury status, or for holding them out of nationally televised games, the NBA Cup, or for holding multiple stars out of high-profile matchups.

Strange that, in this situation, the NBA would target a local TV-only, early March game between two of the worst NBA teams, record-wise, for violating the Player Participation Policy.

Markkanen was off to a decent start in 2024-25. His shooting splits (.476/.446/.865) were very good. Any statistical decreases (19.9 ppg, 6.5 reb, 2.2 ast) were easily attributed to his minutes played being down a bit over the first 13 games he played in 2024-25 (31.6 a night, as compared to 33.1 and 34.6 during the first 13 games in 2023-24 and 2022-23).

While he missed a few early season games, including an early exit against the Sacramento Kings on October 29th (and the next three games), nothing appeared serious at the time. The real turning point was the pre-Thanksgiving tilt with the San Antonio Spurs, where Markkanen left after a collision with Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.

Lauri then averaged 15.2 points, 5.6 boards, 2.6 assists, and 1.8 turnovers over his next five games, on .366/.211/.842 splits, while missing two other games during that time. This was a huge drop in production for the one-time All-Star.

From December 8 to February 22, Markkanen played in 26 of 34 games, and while he shot better from the field, it was more reminiscent of his Chicago days rather than his time with the Jazz - (.411/.329/.889 splits).

He has just five double-digit rebound games in 43 games this season. Last season, he had 19 of those in 55 outings. And in 2022-23, he had 28 such games out of 66 played.

Markkanen's aggressiveness has been absent at times, which aligns with nagging injuries that haven't healed.

Now, no one would dare suggest that the Jazz aren't leaning into the tank this year. A 5-18 start almost assured that they would play their young guys sooner rather than later, rather than getting 82 games out of Markkanen, Clarkson, Collins, and Sexton.

But looking at the Jazz overall, they aren't mailing it in, especially compared to some of the other "tanking teams" in the league.

Utah has had several five-game losing streaks, two that were six games long (one of those is current), and another that lasted eight games. In a season where they are forecast to lose 60 games, making it without a double-digit losing streak emphasizes that they aren't dogging it, rather they are playing hard and showing well even in a lost season.

Several other "tanking" teams (Washington, New Orleans) have multiple double-digit losing streaks, unlike the Jazz, who continue to compete even on nights when they are overmatched.

Overall, Markkanen has had a rough season. He has had nagging back injuries that are well-documented and not "made up." And he was closing in on a return date, as recent Jazz injury reports indicated.

The NBA jumped the gun on this. If the Jazz had held him out of a national game, or there was no evidence of an injury, that's one thing. But any Jazz fan that's been watching knows that Lauri isn't quite right this year, and where the Jazz just gave him a huge contract, they should have the right to manage him if he's hurt and get the most out of him in the years to come.