The Utah Jazz have taken team bonding to another level during their offseason trip to Finland.
Jazz head coach Will Hardy and team owner Ryan Smith joined Keyonte George and Jaren Jackson Jr. for a workout while visiting Lauri Markkanen in his home country, as shown in a video shared by the organization on Instagram and X.
The footage showed the Jazz contingent getting involved in the session rather than simply watching from the sidelines, with Hardy and Smith working out alongside George and Jackson.
The trip has brought together several of the most important figures in Utah's organization ahead of the 2026-27 season, with Markkanen hosting George, Jackson, Hardy and Smith in Helsinki.
Jazz bring key players together in Finland
Hardy explained during the trip that bringing Utah's core players together away from the NBA environment was one of its main purposes.
"Lauri, Jaren and Keyonte are three really important players for our team," Hardy told Yle. "This way we got them to spend some time together and away from it all."
While the group has trained together, Hardy stressed that building relationships has been an even bigger part of the visit.
"They got to train on the court, but the human part, relationships and finding a connection have been the most important things," he said.
George already has history of making the trip to Finland to spend time with Markkanen. His previous visit helped build a closer relationship between the two Jazz players, with both later speaking about how important the experience was in strengthening their connection on and off the court.
This time, Jackson has joined them after arriving in Utah during the 2025-26 season, giving the Jazz an opportunity to bring three of their leading players together well before training camp.
The group also attended Finland's preparation game against Iceland in Espoo, where Markkanen scored 17 points in a 93-78 victory as Finland continued preparing for the upcoming FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
Finland will host Sweden on August 27 before traveling to face Estonia on August 30, with Markkanen expected to play in both qualifiers.
For Utah, the Finland visit represents another early step toward building chemistry around a core featuring Markkanen, Jackson and George before the new NBA season begins.