Draymond GreenForward, Golden State Warriors

Lauri Markkannen on being a family man in the NBA #shorts #nba #warriors #jazz #draymondgreen

20 Mar 2023 · 0 min

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In a brief YouTube Shorts interview, Draymond Green asks Lauri Markkanen about his experience as a father while navigating an NBA career. Markkanen shares that he is married with a five‑year‑old son and a two‑year‑old daughter. He explains the difficulty of being away from his family due to games, travel, treatments, practices, and extra work, noting that his son was born midway through his rookie season, which made the early years especially challenging. The conversation highlights the personal sacrifices and emotional coping mechanisms involved in balancing professional basketball demands with family responsibilities.

Going for 13 days currently right now. Just talk to me about what it's like being a father and living the world that we live in.
I got a wife and a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old daughter at home. Obviously, it's tough to be away from family, and they understand it's my job and it requires a lot of time. Just not games and trips, but going in to get treatments and practices and extra work you have to put in. I was struggling my first couple years. Our son was born my halfway through my rookie year, so—
Wow.
Basketball was always just a game I played for fun. And then now it's my job and I'm getting paid for it. So I was in a gray area of kind of, you want to enjoy it, but at the same time you have the pressure to perform. I have a bad game, it's a bad day at work, I close the locker room door and go play hide and seek with my son. That really helped me in my basketball career, kind of enjoying the basketball and whatever happens, good or bad, I go home and it doesn't matter anymore.