WATCH: A 16-Year-Old Lauri Markkanen Dominating Finnish High School Basketball

Imagine you’re a high school-aged basketball player in Finland, young and full of life. Confidence is oozing through you as you make a reverse lay-up during warmups. The coach calls you over and points out your man. You look. You cry.

A six-foot-ten 16-year-old by the name of Lauri Markkanen stands on the court with only a smile that a future No. 7 overall pick can have. The games over before it even started. Yeah, Markkanen might as well have been a cheat code during his high school days.

Check it out:

How unfair is that? What’s even crazier to think is Markkanen was playing the small forward position at the time, which I can only imagine created some intense mismatches.  I know all NBA players are normally insane in high school, but, come one, shooting 61 percent!? My goodness.

Anyway, I feel so bad for all these children who had their basketball hopes and dreams crushed by The Finnisher.

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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