By John Denton
Feb. 11, 2016
ORLANDO – This first foray to the NBA’s All-Star Weekend is what Mario Hezonja coldly calls “a business trip,” but there’s already a time when the Orlando Magic rookie sees himself going back to the league’s showcase event and being much more involved. “I wanna be in the Dunk Contest, 3-Point Shootout, Skills Challenge, All-Star Game, everything,” Hezonja said while yucking it up with fellow forward Tobias Harris. “Man, I wanna go there and do it all.”
Hezonja was joking, of course, but it’s not that far-fetched of an idea considering the wealth of talent that the Magic’s do-everything guard/forward possesses. Already, halfway through his first NBA season, the 20-year-old guard has proven himself to be one of the Magic’s best long-range shooters, best passers in traffic and sneakiest dunkers in transition – attributes that could make a future candidate for the 3-point competition, dunk contest and skills challenge in a potentially busy weekend.
Good thing, however, that there’s no competition at the All-Star Game for defense because that’s an area where Hezonja is still very much a work in progress in the eyes of Orlando head coach Scott Skiles. Still, with Hezonja about to make his first appearance at NBA All-Star Weekend to play in Friday night’s BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, the rookie is mostly pleased with the progress that he’s made thus far in his first NBA season.
“I can see it in the practices and then in the games it reflects what I’ve learned and how I feel more comfortable now,” said Hezonja, who has seen his playing time and production increase dramatically of late as he’s earned more of the trust from the Magic coaching staff. “It’s just kind of me adapting to the speed and the contact of the NBA. Everything has been different (in the NBA) for me, but I feel like now it’s all good for me.”
It’s also all good for Hezonja that he will be travelling to the NBA All-Star Weekend along with point guard Elfrid Payton, his closest friend on the team and someone who helped ease his transition to both the NBA and USA. Even though Payton hails from Louisiana and speaks with a distinct Southern/Cajun drawl and Hezonja is a Croatian who learned English while watching American cartoons and sitcoms, the two became fast friends upon first meeting last July. Since then they have been mostly inseparable on and off the court. When Hezonja didn’t have a vehicle in his first month in the U.S., it was Payton who gave him a lift everywhere, earning him the nickname, “Mario’s Uber.”
Through it all, Payton has been there to help Hezonja with the grind of the NBA, the language barriers and questions about life in and outside of the locker room. “It started off a little rough for him, like it does with any rookie, but he’s doing a good job of taking the whole thing one day at a time,” said Payton, who finished fourth in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting himself last spring. “He’s learning as much as he can.
“This is his first (extended) time being in the states and I think he’s done well with it,” Payton continued. “We teach him things about music and certain slang (phrases). He’s good at asking questions when he hears something on TV, or Coach (Skiles) might say something, or he hears something in casual conversation, and he’ll come and ask me and I try to help him out. He does a good job of learning it himself, but he’s not shy about asking questions. That’s a very good thing.”
It might be a very weird thing that Hezonja and Payton will be competing in the Rising Stars Challenge against one another because of the “USA vs. The World” format. Actually, Hezonja and Payton facing off is not that different considering that they are usually matched up against one another in practice now that the rookie has been used some as a point guard as a way to get his shooting and passing on the floor more. And while they might crack a few inside jokes – they often imitate one another with random sounds in the locker room – there won’t be much trash talk because of the mutual respect there.
“With (Payton) there might be some laughs, but not trash talk. With somebody else, there might be some trash talking, but not with E.P.,” Hezonja stressed.
While the last six weeks have been mostly a struggle for the Magic (23-29), Hezonja has used that time to finally blossom as a player and show off the vast potential that made him the No. 5 pick in last June’s NBA Draft.
After playing just 11.3 and 12.8 minutes a game in November and December – mostly because of defensive struggles – Hezonja has seen his playing time increase to 17.9 and 22 minutes a game in January and February. In six games this month, Hezonja has averaged 9.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists – all highs for any month so far and further proof that he’s growing more comfortable and confident on the floor for the Magic.
Skiles said even though it might difficult to quantify, he sees Hezonja making great strides in his complete understanding of the game. The rookie is better prepared defensively upon entering games now and he understands what the Magic are asking of him as a playmaker, a shooter and a help defender.
“We feel like he’s making big strides, and I realize that it might not always be evident in the games, but he’s gotten a lot better with the understanding of the quickness and speed of the pro games,” Skiles said of Hezonja, who is averaging 5.4 points per game on 43 percent shooting overall and 36.3 percent accuracy from the 3-point line. “I would argue that every single second that he’s in a NBA game is crucial for him to get better (individually) but also understand what’s going on in games and with our team,” Skiles continued. “He has a good basketball IQ, but there’s no substitute for being in the game and playing the right way.”
The 6-foot-8, 218-pound Hezonja has certainly been playing the right way of late, making big shots and setting up others for open looks. In the home defeat of Boston two weeks ago, Hezonja registered a career high in points (17) while drilling three 3-pointers. In Orlando’s last-second loss in Oklahoma City, Hezonja didn’t blink while facing superstar Kevin Durant and he hit six of 10 shots, four 3-pointers – two of which were end-of-quarter buzzer-beaters – and he scored 16 points. And he hit the biggest shot of his young career on Monday night in Atlanta, capping Orlando’s comeback from 20 points down with a gutsy 3-pointer with 14.8 seconds remaining that put the Magic up 101-100. In drips and drabs, the NBA game is slowly coming to Hezonja. He’s never lacked for confidence and that’s never been a problem this season. Now, he has a distinct comfort to go along with his oozing confidence and his skills are starting to blossom.
And on Friday night, all of Hezonja’s skills – the 3-point shots, the no-look passes and the dunking abilities – will be on display for the basketball world to see in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend. Hezonja said he’ll be in Toronto Thursday and Friday for the game, but he’ll leave on Saturday. This “business trip” might someday extend longer when he’s back at the all-star game for a full weekend of competition.
“I’ve seen some of (All-Star Weekend) on TV, maybe a Slam Dunk Contest, but never the game,” Hezonja said. “With this being my first year and already going there, it’s amazing. But really, I’m looking at it as another business trip and not a funny weekend. (Payton) and I going to have fun, definitely, but it’s about the basketball. We’re going there to play and enjoy it while we’re playing.
“Playing in this one game will be special, but for me this is about doing it every day and continuing to work hard on my game,” he added. “All the practices and all the games, they are so important for me to keep getting better. I want to get better every time I’m out there.”
