Lauri Markkanen is among the players born on May 22.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on May 22.
Lauri Markkanen (1997)
There haven’t been many players from Finland in the NBA, but Markkanen is making a strong case as the best to hail from there. “The Finnisher” was the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. A draft day trade for Jimmy Butler sent him to the Chicago Bulls, with the big man averaging 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds in a remarkable rookie season.
Markkanen spent his first four seasons with the Bulls, he broke out when he joined the Utah Jazz in 2022. Markkanen won Most Improved Player in his first season in Utah, averaging 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks in an All-Star campaign. He’s been one of the best power forwards in the NBA since then and still plays for Utah today.
Roger Brown (1942)
“The Man with a Thousand Moves” is one of the great nicknames in NBA history, and Brown earned it with his stylistic play. This small forward was undrafted out of Dayton University but made a name for himself as one of the greatest ABA players. He signed with the Indiana Pacers in 1967, making his first of five straight All-Star appearances in his rookie season. Brown also received MVP votes through his first four years, averaging 20.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists through those All-Star seasons. He played three more years with Indy before retiring in 1975, winning three ABA titles. All of that earned Brown a Hall of Fame induction in 2013.
Want to see every NBA player born on May 22? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Joe Smyth (May 22, 1929)
- Larry Siegfried (May 22, 1939)
- Willie Scott (May 22, 1947)
- Chuck Lloyd (May 22, 1947)
- Roger Burkman (May 22, 1958)
- Chad Kinch (May 22, 1958)
- Rob Lock (May 22, 1966)
- Donald Royal (May 22, 1966)
- Gundars Vetra (May 22, 1967)
- Randy Brown (May 22, 1968)
- Mickael Gelabale (May 22, 1983)
- Chase Budinger (May 22, 1988)
- Malcolm Lee (May 22, 1990)
- Jared Cunningham (May 22, 1991)
- Johnathan Williams (May 22, 1995)
- Tyler Davis (May 22, 1997)
- Isaiah Stewart (May 22, 2003)
