Lauri Markkanen to serve in the Finnish military during the offseason / News - Basketnews.com

Markkanen will fulfil his mandatory military service during the summer. He'll do it in the special Sports School unit that's specifically designated for professional athletes. He will join the program either in mid-April or in July.

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

When the 2022-23 NBA season ends, Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkannen will get back to his home country of Finland to fulfill a duty for his homeland.

Lauri Markkanen

MIN:34.43PTS:25.62 (59.59%)REB:8.64As:1.86ST:0.64BL:0.58TO:1.92GM:66ProfileNBA2022/2023

Markkanen will serve mandatory time in the Finnish military during the summer. Depending on the outcome of the regular season, he will report for service either on April 17th or in July, Ramona Shelburne from ESPN writes.

"It's important for him as a citizen to fulfill his civic duty and not have any kind of preferential treatment just because he is a famous athlete," Markkanen's agent Michael Lelchitski told ESPN.

Military service is mandatory for all male Finnish citizens and has to be completed before the age of 30. Markkanen was included in the Finnish Defense Forces Sports School list back in 2021.

Professional athletes are designated to serve in a special 'Sports School' unit that is meant to help athletes train while completing their military service. The military service is supposed to start on April 11th, 2022, one day after the NBA regular season ends. The shortest military service to be fulfilled for an athlete is 165 days.

"Of course, I'd rather be working out like I normally do, but I've heard they do a good job of combining the two," the player said. "You're able to do your job working as an athlete and your basic training at the same time."

Finland was officially accepted into the NATO alliance earlier this week.

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