NEW YORK – Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen have maintained the same mentality through the offseason and into the early part of the regular season.
Pressure will be welcomed with open arms and embraced by both.
It better be because it’s not going away anytime soon.
Coach Jim Boylen and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson each insisted last month that the team was built with a supporting cast to lift Markkanen and LaVine to stardom, and those two would have to run with that.
Then on Monday, Boylen again reiterated that Markkanen and LaVine had a talking to about their defense, and needed to pick up that aspect of their game if the team wants to succeed.