Mario Hezonja

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Mario Hezonja
Mario Hezonja (cropped).jpg
Hezonja with Barcelona B in October 2012
No. 23 – Orlando Magic
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1995-02-25) 25 February 1995 (age 29)
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Nationality Croatian
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2015 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Orlando Magic
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2015 Barcelona (Spain)
2012–2013 →Barcelona B (Spain)
2015–present Orlando Magic
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Croatia Croatia
U17 World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Lithuania
U16 European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2011 Czech Republic

Mario Hezonja (Croatian pronunciation: [ˌmâːrio ˈxêzoɲa]; born 25 February 1995) is a Croatian professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Croatian national team internationally. He primarily plays at the shooting guard position, but he can also play as a small forward. He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic.

Junior career

Hezonja was promoted to the club level in his native Croatia when he was 12 years old, and at the age of 13, he stayed for two seasons with Dubrovnik. In 2010, Hezonja signed a contract with Croatian club, Zagreb. In 2011, he won the Nike International Junior Tournament with Zagreb. He was also named to the All-Tournament team, alongside teammate, Dario Šarić. He was forced to sit out the 2011–12 season because of mononucleosis.

Professional career

Barcelona (2012–2015)

In July 2012, Hezonja signed a three-year contract with Spanish club Barcelona at the age of 17.[1] He also has an option to extend for additional four years with the club. His former club Zagreb also got 150,000 euros in the name of buyout, as he was still under contract. For the 2012–13 season, he was loaned to the reserve team of the club: Barcelona B of the LEB Oro, Spanish second division. In 2012, Hezonja was nominated for the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year Award,[2] but Jonas Valančiūnas eventually won the award.

Hezonja playing for FC Barcelona at the Euroleague Junior Tournament Finals in London, in May 2013.

Hezonja played in the Euroleague for the first time in 2012–13 season. He appeared in only 2 games, averaging 2.5 points and 2 rebounds per game. In 2013, Hezonja was invited to be a part of the world team at the Nike Hoop Summit, but couldn't attend because of injury.

During the 2013–14 season, Hezonja became a more constant part of the Barcelona's first team rotation, although playing very limited minutes. Starting with the 2014–15 season, Hezonja's role in the team increased, from playing only in the garbage time in the previous season to around 15 minutes per game on constant basis.

On February 1, 2015, Hezonja hit 8-of-8 from the three-point line in a 101–53 Barcelona's win against La Bruixa d'Or Manresa, becoming the Spanish League MVP for the week 19.[3] Barcelona finished the participation in the Euroleague after quarterfinal series loss to Olympiacos. Over 22 Euroleague games played, Hezonja averaged 7.7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist per game.

On April 23, 2015, Hezonja declared himself eligible for the 2015 NBA draft as an international "early-entrant", just days after Barcelona's elimination in the Euroleague.[4] He had been identified as a potential lottery pick early in his career, and surprised many by opting not to declare for the draft in 2014, his first year of eligibility.[5] Some Spanish and Croatian media saw this move as a player's response to poor communication throughout the final few months with Barcelona's head coach Xavi Pascual; Pascal denied any problems in communication.[6][7] Barcelona eventually finished the season losing in the final series of the Spanish League championship, after 3–0 loss to Real Madrid.[8]

Orlando Magic (2015–present)

On June 25, 2015, Hezonja was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2015 NBA draft.[9] On July 10, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Magic.[10] He made his debut for the Magic in the team's season opening loss to the Washington Wizards on October 28, recording 11 points in 25 minutes off the bench.[11] On January 31, 2016, he scored a then season-high 17 points in a 119–114 win over the Boston Celtics.[12] On February 28, he made his first career NBA start and dunked four seconds into the game, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes of action in a 130–116 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.[13] On March 2, he had a season-best game for the Magic, recording 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a 102–89 win over the Chicago Bulls.[14] On April 11, he set career highs with seven assists and five steals while scoring 19 points in a 107–98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.[15]

National team

Hezonja was named Most Valuable Player of the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, after leading his team with a double-double in the final, 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals.[16] Over the tournament, he averaged 20 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Hezonja was part of the senior Croatian national team that participated at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He also represented Croatia at the 2015 EuroBasket,[17] where they were eliminated in the eighth finals by Czech Republic.[18] Over 6 tournament games, he averaged 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists on 41.2% shooting from the field.[19]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 Orlando 79 9 17.9 .433 .349 .907 2.2 1.4 .5 .2 6.1
Career 79 9 17.9 .433 .349 .907 2.2 1.4 .5 .2 6.1

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2012–13 Barcelona 2 0 9.5 .333 .000 .500 2.0 .0 .5 .0 2.5 1.5
2013–14 14 1 6.1 .429 .250 .750 .5 .2 .0 .0 1.6 .9
2014–15 22 2 16.5 .462 .382 .750 2.0 1.0 .6 .2 7.7 6.1
Career 38 3 12.3 .453 .369 .733 1.4 .7 .4 .1 5.2 4.0

Career achievement and honors

Club honors

Junior club honors
Senior club honors

Individual

References

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External links

  • Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
  • Career statistics and player information from WNBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). and Basketball-Reference.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

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