Mario Hezonja

Mario Hezonja (born 25 February 1995) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Spanish Aba League and the EuroLeague.

He also represents the Croatian national team in international competition.

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.

In July 2012, Hezonja signed a three-year contract with Spanish club Barcelona, at the age of 17.

He also had an option to extend his contract for an additional four years with the club.

His former club, Zagreb, also got €150,000 in the name of a 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, the Spanish second-tier level division.

In 2012, Hezonja was nominated for the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year Award, but Jonas Valančiūnas eventually won the award.

Hezonja played in the EuroLeague for the first time, in the 2012–13 season.

He appeared in only 2 games, averaging 2.5 points and 2 rebounds per game.

During the EuroLeague's 2013–14 season, Hezonja played very limited minutes.

Starting with the 2014–15 season, Hezonja's role in the team increased, from playing only during the garbage time in the previous season, to around 15 minutes per game.

Barcelona finished their participation in the 2014–15 EuroLeague season, after a quarterfinal series loss to Olympiacos.

Over 22 EuroLeague games played, Hezonja averaged 7.7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist per game.

He had been identified as a potential lottery pick early in his career, and surprised some by opting not to declare for the draft in 2014, his first year of eligibility.

Some Spanish and Croatian media saw this move as the player's response to poor communication throughout the final few months with Barcelona's head coach Xavi Pascual; Pascal denied any problems in communication.

He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic.

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.

On 1 February 2015, Hezonja hit 8-of-8 from the three-point line in a 2014–15 Spanish League season game, in a 101–53 Barcelona win, against La Bruixa d'Or Manresa, becoming the Spanish League MVP for week 19 of the season.

On 23 April 2015, Hezonja declared himself eligible for the 2015 NBA draft, as an international "early-entrant", just days after Barcelona's elimination in the EuroLeague.

Barcelona eventually finished the season losing in the final series of the 2015 Spanish League playoffs, after a 3–0 series loss to Real Madrid.

On 25 June 2015, Hezonja was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2015 NBA draft.

On 10 July 2015, he signed a rookie scale contract with the Magic.

He made his debut for the Magic in the team's season-opening loss to the Washington Wizards on 28 October 2015, recording 11 points in 25 minutes off the bench.

On 31 January 2016, he scored a then-season-high 17 points in a 119–114 win over the Boston Celtics.

On 28 February 2016, 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.

On 2 March 2016, he scored a season-high 21 points in a 102–89 win over the Chicago Bulls.

On 11 April 2016, he set career highs with seven assists and five steals while scoring 19 points in a 107–98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Magic finished the season with 35–47 record, missing the playoffs.

Hezonja finished the season making 79 appearances with the averages of 6.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 43.3 field goal percentage.

Under new head coach Frank Vogel, Hezonja saw minutes reduction, mainly due to his mediocre defense.

On 28 October 2016, Hezonja scored 13 points in a 108–82 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

He tied that season high on 4 April 2017, registering another 13-point effort in a 122–102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the Magic's season finale on 12 April 2017, Hezonja grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in a 113–109 win over Detroit.

Although his defense improved towards the end of the season, his shooting numbers waned.

In general, his sophomore season was underwhelming, and with reduced minutes his game averages dropped to just 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game on 35.5 field goal percentage.

The Magic finished the season with 29–53 record, missing the playoffs.