NBA Won't Send Independent Doctor for Lauri Markkanen's MRI After Jazz Star's Injury at Practice

The NBA will not take extra precautions to verify the results of Lauri Markkanen's upcoming MRI.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the league isn't sending an independent doctor to sit it on the Jazz star's MRI, but will have access to the results of the testing "as stipulated by the CBA and its Player Participation Policy."

Markkanen will be evaluated for a right ankle and right hip injury, according to Kevin Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Athletic's Tony Jones initially reported that the league planned to send medical personnel to Utah, but later clarified that the NBA planned to evaluate the results, which is common practice.

The report from Stein comes amid the league's efforts to crack down on tanking practices. ESPN's Shams Charania reported last week that the NBA has discussed a handful of measures to try to curb tanking.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed tanking at All-Star Weekend.

"In the old days, it was just sort of an understanding among partners in terms of behavior," he told reporters. "I think what we're seeing is modern analytics where it's so clear that the incentives are misaligned. ... Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we've seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view. Which was what led to those fines, and not just those fines but to my statement that we're going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams' behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice."

Earlier this month, the Jazz were fined $500,000 "conduct detrimental to the league" because Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. sat out late in close games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.

Utah currently sits in 13th place in the Western Conference at 18-40.

Considering this year's draft class is loaded with players like Kansas' Darryn Peterson, BYU's AJ Dybantsa and Duke's Cam Boozer, it's hard to blame the Jazz and other teams for wanting to improve their lottery odds.