NEW YORK: Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz was named the NBA's 2023 Most Improved Player on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) after boosting his scoring average by nearly 11 points a game. "It feels amazing," Markkanen told NBA telecaster TNT from Helsinki, where he is fulfilling Finland military service requirements. When it came to the military, Markkanen said he had plenty of others who wanted to play him one-on-one, but none yet who outranked him. He's the first European player to capture the award since Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee in 2017 and the first Jazz player ever to win the award. Other finalists for the award were New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson from the United States and Canadian guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
