Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lauri Markkanen. (Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports)
Lauri Markkanen announced himself with the Cleveland Cavaliers by embarrassing Nikola Jokic on his home floor with a monster poster dunk.
Nikola Jokic may be the reigning MVP in the NBA, but that doesn’t make him immune to being posterized.
Lauri Markkanen put him on one in vicious fashion on Monday night as the Cavaliers battled the Nuggets.
Markkanen really did that in front of Jokic’s home crowd. What a moment for the forward. That’s a way into the hearts of Cavs fans, that’s for sure.
Lauri Markkanen highlight dunk put Nikola Jokic on a poster
Cleveland got everything they could out of the moment too. These social media posts take the dunk to the next level.
It just gets better and better the more you watch it.
Markannen hasn’t had a dream start with the Cavaliers. He came into Sunday’s game shooting 30 percent from the field in his first three games with the team. They lost to Memphis and Charlotte before rebounding with a win over the Hawks on Saturday.
Cleveland ended up with Markannen via a trade with the Bulls and Trail Blazers at the end of August. He spent the first four years of his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls. He was considered one of the brighter young players in the league after a strong rookie campaign. However, he lost his starting place during his rough 2020-21 season.
The fresh start in Cleveland could work out for him if he keeps producing plays like that dunk on Jokic.