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Hezonja Has Gotten Advice From Family Friend Peja Stojakovic

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton

Nov. 22, 2015

ORLANDO – For much of the past year, Orlando Magic rookie Mario Hezonja has sought advice from former star forward and family friend Peja Stojakovic about what he needs to do to best adjust to the NBA and maximize his massive potential as a player.

But even with Stojakovic in Orlando on Friday and Saturday, Hezonja had no interest in speaking to a player he considers ``a legend and one of the best European players ever.’’ Highly competitive and especially hard on himself at times, the 20-year-old Hezonja simply isn’t the type to casually fraternize with the enemy before or after games – even if it’s someone such as admired and highly respected as Stojakovic, now 38 years old and the Director of Player Personnel and Development for the Sacramento Kings since last August.

``I was concentrating (on) the game and I don’t pay attention to that before a game,’’ said Hezonja, who had no plans of speaking to Stojakovic following Orlando’s frustration-filled 97-91 loss to Sacramento on Saturday. ``I don’t know where (Stojakovic is) now, but we lost the game, so there are no hellos or whatever. It could be my neighbors and I don’t care, man, (about speaking to anyone). Maybe when we get to Sacramento, but not today.’’

It was understandable that Hezonja was in no mood to chat on Saturday considering that he played just 17 minutes, scored only three points, turned the ball over twice and committed two fouls. Also, Hezonja, a reserve all season even after being the No. 5 pick in last June’s NBA Draft, was on the floor during much of the 22-2 skid that wrecked Orlando’s afternoon against the Kings, though it was hardly all his fault.

Hezonja and Orlando (6-7) will have a shot to bounce back in a big way on Monday night when they face LeBron James and the Cavaliers (10-3) in Cleveland.

Maybe another conversation with Stojakovic on Saturday could have come in handy because he knows exactly the frustration and impatience that Hezonja is feeling these days. Through the first 13 games of his NBA career, Hezonja is averaging just 4.8 points and 1.5 rebounds and shooting 37.3 percent from the floor and 36.7 percent from the 3-point stripe while playing just 14.5 minutes a night. He had 11 points in his first NBA regular-season game and he matched that total on Nov. 7 in Philadelphia, but overall he’s made more than one field goal in a game just five times thus far.

Hezonja – a Croatian native who played professionally in Spain before coming to the NBA – is hopeful that his career will someday mirror that of Stojakovic – an ethnic Serbian who played professionally in Greece before coming to the NBA. One of Stojakovic’s first-ever pro coaches was none other than Scott Skiles, Hezonja’s coach now in Orlando.

They were brought together because of a mutual friend and Hezonja and Stojakovic spent a lot of time together last year when Mario was a rising star in the Spanish ACB League and Peja was scouting for talent. They talked lots about Hezonja jumping to the NBA, and Stojakovic told him plenty about his initial struggles upon getting to the NBA.

The 14th pick of the 1996 NBA Draft, Stojakovic came to the NBA in 1998 with much fanfare, but he initially struggled while adapting to a different league and a different country. The 6-foot-10 forward played just 21.4 minutes (while averaging 8.4 points on 32 percent 3-point shooting) and 23.6 minutes (while averaging 11.9 points on 37.5 percent 3-point shooting) in his first two seasons in the NBA.

However, Stojakovic’s potential started to show in 2000-01 when he started all 75 of the games he played in and he boosted his scoring average to 20.4 points per game while shooting a stellar 40 percent from 3-point range. Two years later, Stojakovic was a winner of the NBA’s 3-point Shootout and an All-NBA performer after averaging a career-best 24.2 points per game and shooting 43.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

Stojakovic sees Hezonja going through many of the same struggles that he did 17 years ago. His message to the Magic rookie has been about the power of patience and the need to continue to work hard in practice.

``Putting pressure on himself is just Mario wanting to be successful right away and he’s a little bit impatient with the process. It’s very normal,’’ Stojakovic said on Saturday prior to the Magic-Kings game. ``I think he’s going to be OK. There are so many games in this league and he just needs to look at the next one as the next challenge and opportunity for him to showcase his talents. In order for you to earn your minutes and your spot on the team you have to come in every day and show your teammates and coaches that you deserve it.’’

Like most accidentally dismissive 20-year-olds, Hezonja cracked, ``I am too young for some of the things he says,’’ when referring to the advice Stojakovic gives him. Hezonja said he isn’t frustrated with a process he wants to be better at right away, but he admitted that he does often put way too much pressure on himself. He understands fully why Skiles and his Magic coaching staff have limited his playing time as he better learns the schemes and opposing talent in the NBA.

``It’s not about an individual; it’s a team sport. So I’m looking to help the team the best that I can and individually trying to improve the best that I can,’’ said Hezonja, who had 19- and 13-point performances in the preseason. ``I’m here to play, not to do whatever else. Of course, everybody already knows that. But if something is going wrong, I’ve got to learn it in order for Coach to put me in. I agree with that and that’s helpful for me because it drives me even more.

Patience, he said, is difficult because he wants to succeed at the sport he has devoted his life to already. A professional player since he was 12 years old, Hezonja moved from his hometown of Dubrovnik, Croatia to Belgrade when he was high school age for basketball reasons. Later, after turning 17 years old, Hezonja moved thousands of miles away to Barcelona to compete in the highly skilled Spanish League. And now that he’s in the NBA, he’s highly eager to show what he can do against the best players in the world even though he admitted that he is still getting used to the athleticism and physicality.

``Yeah, I want it now. It’s not hard, but sometimes it (feels) strange. I don’t know why,’’ Hezonja said of having to be patient as he transitions to the NBA style of play. ``Not (frustrating) in a negative way at all, this is nothing. It’s normal stuff. This is the NBA, so if you do something bad, make sure you learn it and then come back. Everything is positive. Maybe I’m facing tough situations, but nothing is going bad. Everything is OK.’’

That’s something that Stojakovic would probably like hearing since he was has been there much of the past year giving Hezonja tips about life in the NBA and living in America. He said Hezonja has several factors going for him that should set him ups for success, namely his strong family support, his diverse talent base as a player and the direction of Skiles.

Stojakovic is very familiar with Skiles because the two of them, first, played together in Greece and then he played for Skiles after the former Magic standout became the coach of European powerhouse, PAOK.

Skiles joked recently that if Hezonja can become anywhere near the player that Stojakovic was – a three-time all-star, the 2001 Most Improved Player award winner, No. 10 all-time in 3-pointers made at the time of his 2011 retirement and someone who averaged 17 points and shot 40.1 percent from 3-point range over 13 NBA seasons – then the Magic would be delighted.

``Mario is a good kid, a hard-working kid and he really loves basketball,’’ Stojakovic said. ``I really believe NBA basketball suits his game. I’ve just tried to tell him to be patient and work hard. I know Coach Skiles, somebody I played with and played for, and I know that coach can be pretty hard on the young guys and he demands you play hard and be professional, but I think it’s a perfect fit for Mario.

``He’s an amazing athlete and he can shoot, but he just needs to figure out a way to find his spots on the court in the offense,’’ Stojakovic continued. ``Obviously, he comes from a very strong family. It’s always good to have your family’s support with you. The first couple of years are always tough, but he will adjust.’’