Mario Hezonja was at one point a top European prospect of the 21st century, turned after thought just 8 years later. Today we cover the rise, and demise of Mario Hezonja.
He now plays in Real Madrid, a worldwide known club outside the NBA. Not every basketball player has the chance to be selected in the NBA and then to play in one of the best Euroleague teams. The people that say he's a failure or a bad player shurely doesn't even play basketball. Facts.
He is not a failure but he definetely under achieved. Going from top 5 draft pick 7 years ago to not even be the star player of your team in euroleague is definetely not the best thing
Great break down. As a Magic fan who watched this whole saga play out, I can say it was one of the strangest I've ever seen. First, the understanding was that the Knicks were going to draft Justice Winslow and we would draft porzingis. So with porzingis off the board, hezonja became a back up plan that we weren't expecting to draft. He started out red hot though and I was excited. He was dropping game winning threes and posters in summer league, I thought we had something. To this day, it's confusing how his picture perfect high release jumper didn't translate and instead just got worse over time. His ball handling was the worst part of his game BY FAR. I have never in my life seen an NBA wing that was that poor of a ball handler. Horrible decision making as well, he was a walking turnover. Scott Skiles deserves some blame here. He couldn't deal with Mario's mistakes and killed his confidence. He had a moment where we moved him to the small ball 4 to try to hide some of his issues and he actually started playing better there, but it was never gonna work in Orlando. His first game back in Orlando with the Knicks he dropped a 30 piece on us while running the point! I was starting to think he might be figuring it out. But I think that may have been his last strong game in the NBA. Confusing one man, kid has so much talent and theres really no way he shouldn't have at least been a serviceable role player.
Not too early, he just got drafted by the wrong team, magics can’t develop any player, I mean all the player from that year is better off now, magic & rockets are probably the worst when it comes to development with players
As a Croatian i heard some stories, since he was a teenager that he always clashed head with coaches, he only listened to himself. His work ethic is also bad, someone close to him said that he isn't even that interested in basketball, that the reason he plays basketball is because he is very talented at it. Combine everything i just said and you get a player with high potential but no end product and ufortunately, that's what he is.
@@TheodorTosho He can't, if he doesn't listen to coaches then Zeliko is gonna kick him out. Most people think players can thrive with Zeliko but they don't realize if the player can't handle Zelikos criticism and actually listen to him which most players nowadays don't do then he can't work with you. Most of the NBA divas can't even handle their coaches screaming at them.
Mario had skiles unfortunately as his coach he never could play thru his mistakes and was pulled in games alot and never could get consistent minutes scott skiles hurt this kids development
His career isn't "finished" bc he isn't playing in the US. He's currently playing for Real Madrid as their starting 4 and they are currently in the euroleague final that's tomorrow. He's still good and his career is well intact
Lol same when making deals always try to include him with whoever I’m trying to trade for or if he is in my team do everything to not give him up when other team requests him in trades
I was going to mark a comment about that lol. I didn’t think he’d be a star but he was a solid piece when I’d build tams and needed more shooting and off ball cutting whether it be in the starting lineup or coming off the bench. Honestly I think he got the yips and never recovered
I hate word BUST. Ok, guy had some flaws because of which he failed in NBA but he is 28, now play pretty successfull in Real Madrid (one of the biggest clubs in Europe), earned a lot of money through a career and lives a pretty nice life. If each of those who make fun of him did a fraction of what Hezonja does with his life i highly doubt that he would be considered himself as a failure
His career is definetly not over. He is an important player in the best (non-NBA) team in the World and got an important role in winning the Euroleague.
As a Portland fan Mario stressed me out a lot lol.. Kind of like with people addicted to gambling, they win just enough to keep them gambling but not enough to earn money long term.. Mario would have just enough good games to keep him chucking up shots.. But was so inconsistent and unpredictable he didn’t benefit our team.. Had some awesome highlights though
This video is way better than most of NBA RU-vid. Interesting, pretty well-written, and good editing with clips/highlights that make sense in context. Narration was solid as well. Keep at it, man
as a Croatian i watched him play sometimes in the NBA to try to figure it out. I saw what's wrong, he has a lack of attention to detail on the court, and that gets him subbed out. Missing The simple things. That s is it. Otherwise, great talent, long and guarded Doncic really well
Mario Hezonja is a classic example of a player who devoted too much time into shooting and highlight-reel plays and did not properly develop his fundamentals, playmaking, and ball handling abilities! He was mostly a catch-and-shoot player who was never really comfortable being a facilitator. I'm not sure if he would have flourished with a different coach besides Scott Stiles because he had work ethic issues and wasn't always coachable. However, I'm glad he is playing well with Real Madrid! His playing style is more suited to the Euro League than the NBA!
@@svenjakopcevic6544 Seen a few of his games and nothing special. He often logs less than 20 minutes in several games. Though a FIBA sanctioned games are just 40 minutes in total.
@@mr.sinjin-smyth idk who or what have you watched but it wasnt real madrid or Mario hezonja, i literally go to their live games, you can't argue to me that he is bad lol.
@@svenjakopcevic6544 I know there's more to than just scoring in basketball, but his overall numbers don't look impressive to anyone not familiar with Hezonja. He obviously does the little things to win games, but again overall numbers wise, he has but a few monster scoring games in this Euroleague season. Even JJ Redick had a longer and much better NBA career despite being shorter and less athletic.
Dude just won the Euroleague as a key piece at Real Madrid. He did suck in the NBA that's true, but it might have been the best thing for him. He still has a lot of basketball years ahead of him.
He went to the NBA well, he probably knew he wasn't good enough, but he tried and made money. Realistically, he is a European player who doesn't have the qualities for the NBA. If the NBA plays solid defense, he can't do anything there. He came to Real Madrid, showed that he is still worthy of Europe and that he knows what he is doing. Now he leads them.
He was on the way up in Orlando averaging close to 10 a game his final year there, then he just fell off in Newyork! He had some moments with the Knicks, but never pulled it back together
Great timing to whoever wasted time making this video. Mario plays for Real Madrid and just won the EuroLeague title a few days ago while playing very well both in the semi final and the final.
Why you were pissed??? I bet you didn’t even watched him before that draft. Neither the first nor the last to fail in the NBA but he was extremely talented with all the tools to suceed and it wasn't by chance cconsidered as high pick. You think that scouts and clubs draw players in some prize contest. I hate american "fans" arrogance and ignorance
Just like every other player in the NBA, IF you don’t have a coach who believes in your game and can be patient you suffer. If your team doesn’t believe you’re gonna struggle. Just look at Fultz for an example. He couldn’t shoot in NY but now he can.
Even his croatian teammates were not the biggest fans off him. They didn't hate the kid but they would roll their eyes constantly. I remember watching a perticular game and the shot he took towards the end off the game was one off the worst shots I've ever seen. Just a 3 pointer way behind the line,over defenders hand,in the clutch while there was still plenty off time on the clock. Croatia lost the game.
I remember a lot of people on the internet and some journalists and former NBA players didn't want to acknowledge that Hezonja, Miličić and similar busts were mostly drafted on an eye test, their potential that was subjectively judged by the scouts, while on the other hand, Luka Dončić had real accomplishments behind him. He was the Euroleague MVP at 18 years of age. He was the best player on the team which won the Euroleague when he was 18 and he was improving rapidly. Every season he played much better than the previous one. Only once in maybe 30 years someone in Europe accomplishes what Luka has accomplished by his 19th birthday. I am not saying I am better than NBA scouts but that in Luka's case, you didn't need to be an expert in order to know that Luka was going to be an all star. Luka was the safest draft pick in the last 10 years.
If someone thinks I am a general after the battle, no, I was one of those people on the internet who was claiming Luka was going to be a star before he was drafted and after he was drafted but before he started playing in the NBA.
The fact that he didn't meet the expectations and desperately chased an NBA career doesn't make him a bad player. He's now a champion in Real Madrid and seems like he's found himself a home. He's also very young and he has his best years ahead of him so this video is a bit nonsense
I was honestly rooting for this dude after he was drafted. Thought he had the good kind of arrogant swagger that can keep you going through the ups and downs a la Kobe (but obviously not on that level). Figured he was getting slept on. I’m glad he’s found his niche with Real Madrid, but it definitely would have been cool if he had panned out in the league
I mean the guy said he would beat kobe and messi should be the one watching him. Is it really a surprise he did nothing with that mentality? the only thing super on him was the ego
Y'all hate on these players that don't pan out like everyone thought too much. Given the right situation he would have probably been great. The reality is so many of these nba "busts" are almost always a victim of their environment. Look at a guy like Dennis Smith Jr. He was doing great in his first two seasons then got traded to the knicks where once he had a injury that kept him out for like 2 months. Then they just completely stopped playing him and he completely fell off and was never able to get back into the rotation. If they would have given him the opportunity and gave him back his minutes his career might be different now
There are the few that don't put in enough work and are given the opportunity but they're just not good enough but it's very few especially when we're talking about top 10 draft picks
Rn he just played an important role in real Madrid winning their 11th euroleague. Definitely not a bad bbal player just that the NBA is super demanding and has no patience
It is interesting that even at 28 years of age Hezonja still isnt nowhere near as good as Luka Dončić was at 18. It is funny because people compared Luka to Hezonja and Miličić even though Luka was better at 18 than those two ever were combined.
Although he isn't a flashy player for the NBA, he is an amazing player in a league that is definitely more competitive than the NBA. He may not earn much money but he isn't a flop either
He plays in Real Madrid as one of the best small forwards in the Euroleague. The NBA was just not his place + his attitude could have been better + he went way too early to the league. The fact that he didn't thrive in the NBA doesn't mean he can't become a basketball legend. Ask Sergio Rodriguez, Teodosic or Spanoulis.
Went to NBA too early, developed EGO of a SUPERSTAR...do not know for what reason but in the end dude is solid ball player...i dont like and appreciate when putting this title in video...because he was in NBA, he is in best team in Euroleague...so I think has more credit to be a solid role player than "how bad he acutally is"...Deuces🤔
As a Knicks fan I always thought he was good. He blocked LeBron to win the game when our team was trash. You can’t be bad at basketball and do shit like that
@@swishcountyproductions Wiggins has plenty of offensive moves, I've seen him do crossover spins almost every game. The only reason Wiggins plays so bland compared to others is because his Dad played with Jordan in an era before crossovers.
