Mario Hezonja has taken his Croatian rep as an elite trash-talker all the way to the NBA, though it hasn’t led to much NBA success despite being drafted No. 5 overall. Despite his status as a fringe player who’s been in and out of the Knicks’ rotation, he’s mastered two ultimate highlight clips with extreme Hezonja flare.
The legend of Mario Hezonja continued with a game-saving block on LeBron James
Hezonja is the cockiest role player in the league.
On Sunday afternoon, Hezonja found himself matched up one-on-one against LeBron James with the Lakers trailing the Knicks by one point and the clock ticking towards zero. James lowered his shoulders towards Hezonja’s chest, but he didn’t budge. He held his ground, and then swatted away The King’s game-winning attempt to give the Knicks the win.
The best part? Hezonja went full Hezonja, staring down James after the swat.
Remember, this is a player who’s averaged eight points and four rebounds in inconsistent playing time on the league’s worst team, yet he carries the pride of an NBA superstar.
A photo from a different point in the game shows LeBron on the ground with Hezonja pointing in his direction, and it instantly became a meme.
He’s a true cult hero.
This is the reputation we were promised
Hezonja was known for his supreme confidence long before he made his way to the NBA.
“Respect? No, I never had respect to anybody on a basketball court,” Hezonja told Sportando in 2015. “I heard about, ‘If they smell blood, you get eaten.’ I’m not like that. I don’t care. Whether it’s a veteran or a young player standing in front of me I always have the same goal. I want to run over everybody.”
Yeah, this is who Hezonja is.
“Mario is the only kid in the draft who actually believes he can beat Kobe Bryant one-on-one,” Matej Mamic, a former general manager for Croatian team Cedevita Zagreb, told Bleacher Report’s David Pick before the 2015 draft.
Hezonja “dunked on” Giannis Antetokounmpo and stepped over him a few months ago, too
In December, Hezonja completed a slam that Giannis Antetokounmpo tried to block, but failed. It was a pretty cool moment that Hezonja took and ran away with as he stepped over the MVP-favorite on his way back to the other end of the court.
(Hezonja finished this game with just these two points, by the way.)
That led to a rare response from Antetokounmpo in which he said, “Oh yeah. I’m going to punch him in his nuts next time.”
We were promised a cocky, trash-talking, show-boating Croatian guard, and he’s delivered on his reputation despite limited playing time and success in the NBA.
Do you, Mario.
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