Mar 17, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) dunks the ball during the first quarter against the Chicago Bulls at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Jazz Insider Reveals Potential Cause of Lauri Markkanen's Absence

Originally posted on Utah Jazz on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Mar 27, 2025 4:00 PM ET

During the Utah Jazz's most recent four regular-season showings, those efforts have all been without the services of All-Star talent Lauri Markkanen.

After Markkanen and the Jazz were dinged by the league office earlier this month with a hefty $100,000 fine following a breach in the NBA's Player Participation Policy, it didn't take long for the Utah star to land back on the injury report in due time. The last time he was on the floor came on March 17th vs. his former team in the Chicago Bulls, begging the question of why exactly he's out of the mix once again.

And while we don't have an exact confirmation on why Markkanen has been out of the lineup, Jazz insider Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake detailed an interesting reason as to why the 27-year-old has been inactive, mentioning a potential illness in his family to transpire into his extended departure.

"Markkanen’s absences have gone from 'personal reasons' to 'illness' to now, today, “return to 'competition reconditioning,' Larsen said. "My hypothesis: someone in Markkanen’s family got sick, then he got that sickness, and now he is better and expects to play again soon."

Markkanen’s absences have gone from “personal reasons” to “illness” to now today “return to competition reconditioning”.

My hypothesis: someone in Markkanen’s family got sick, then he got that sickness, and now he is better and expects to play again soon. https://t.co/RxlK8g7Bx9
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 26, 2025

With the Jazz being financially slapped on the wrist only a few weeks ago for sitting Markkanen more than necessary, it's hard to believe the team would do so once again without having proper cause for their star's absence. A case like this could be just that if Larsen's hypothesis proves to be true.

Markkanen, while being in and out of the lineup for Utah across his third season with the team, has remained an effective piece for this Jazz group on both ends of the floor. In 47 games, he's averaged 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 42.3% shooting from the field.

Of course, keeping Markkanen out of the lineup may inevitably help Utah's tanking endeavors and chances of maximizing their odds in this year's draft lottery, but the Jazz brass has to be careful. Considering the league has already taken note of the team's strategy to rest their top guy as much as they can afford to, slipping up again could result in even more consequences for this team, effectively adding insult to injury of an already brutal regular season.

The Jazz star still has time to go before he's ready to get back to the action once again, as the team has already ruled him out for Thursday's contest vs. the Houston Rockets. However, an improving status of "return to competition reconditioning" could provide the necessary confidence for Markkanen to close out the last eight games of his third full campaign in Salt Lake City.

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This article first appeared on Utah Jazz on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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