The first time Lauri Markkanen received a call from Jazz head coach Will Hardy, he didn’t pick up.

It was approaching midnight in Prague on the first day of September. Back in the States, the NBA world was abuzz—star guard Donovan Mitchell was headed to the Cavaliers in a shocking blockbuster trade. Markkanen was wrapping up his night, finishing a round of video games with his teammates a little over 14 hours before Finland’s first game of the 2022 EuroBasket tournament. When he first caught wind of the trade, Markkanen was intrigued at the prospect of playing with Mitchell, then joked with his teammates that he’ll have to see who was part of the deal before getting too excited.

That’s when Markkanen’s phone first rang. He saw it was Cavs GM Koby Altman, and then Markkanen quickly realized he would be headed back to Utah in the deal. It would be Lauri’s third team in three seasons. Later, when he saw a U.S. phone number attempting to FaceTime him, he correctly assumed it was Hardy. And he wasn’t ready to talk.

“That was tough the night that it happened,” Markkanen says. “I can be honest and say it was emotional. It was emotional leaving because in Cleveland we really had a fun year.”

Hardy was persistent, though. He sent Markkanen a text soon after to make sure he was still awake. He called again, and this time his new seven-footer picked up.

“He was rightfully a little shocked, a little taken aback, and not really sure what to think,” Hardy recalls of the conversation. “He’s halfway around the world, it’s the middle of the night and he’s about to play a game the next day for his national team.”

Hardy and Markkanen spoke for only a few minutes. The coach started with saying how excited he was to connect with Lauri as a player, but largely made it a point to emphasize he understood how hard the situation was for Markkanen. Within an hour after speaking, Markkanen sent a text back, thanking Hardy for checking in, and saying he was still processing his emotions as a result of the trade. After the initial call, Hardy would keep in touch with his soon-to-be star forward throughout the EuroBasket tournament.

“I’ve been fortunate to coach a lot of players that have played for their national teams, and I understand how important that is,” Hardy says. “And so the message the whole time was just focus on that; be all in. And we’ll get to the Jazz when we get to the Jazz.”