By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
A couple of hours after Real Madrid officially announced that Mario Hezonja signed a five-year extension, the forward explained his decision and how he wanted to give back to the Spanish powerhouse some of the “respect” they have shown to him.
“My prime will be after I retire,” Hezonja said when asked by Eurohoops what made him agree to such a long-term commitment and essentially dedicate his prime years as a player to Real. If he’ll stay for the entirety of his contract, he’ll be wearing the Blancos jersey at least until he’s 34 years old. “I was trying to see what’s there for me and what everybody was saying. I was very involved, I was doing my stuff and I was the one speaking for myself with the help of my agent. [I wanted to return] the respect back to Madrid because they went to Russia to get me when there were extremely difficult times and a lot of things were being said that weren’t true.”
Real Madrid initially signed Hezonja in 2022 after his one-year run with Russian side Unics Kazan. In his first season with the club, he helped them win the EuroLeague championship, putting up 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in the Final Four wins over Barcelona in the semifinal and Olympiacos Piraeus in the title game.
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“They received me there with open arms and we’re really like a family in the locker room. All these things mattered to me. They accepted me and I accepted them too. I think we have a great group of guys and this is only the beginning,” Hezonja concluded, echoing a bit of a message he wrote after Real Madrid won the 2024 ACB championship, promising more titles in the future.
Hezonja was the leading scorer of Real Madrid in the 2023-24 EuroLeague regular season with 14.0 points on 50-40-90 splits. He also had 4.5 rebounds.
His contract includes an NBA buyout that expires on July 16.
Mario and Croatia blasting their way into the Olympic Qualifiers
Hezonja and his Croatian national team had just opened the 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament of Piraeus in perhaps the most emphatic manner imaginable, blowing away Luka Doncic’s Slovenia. Thanks to this result they will likely avoid a matchup with hosts Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the semifinal stage.
“We prepared very well,” Hezonja said. While suffering a shooting slump of 5 out of 15 from the field, he contributed in all areas of the game to finish with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists. “As soon as the season finished, everybody came and everybody was practicing and training really hard. I think we’re really in shape. The most important is to be as 1 on the court.”
Croatia’s multidimensional and well-oiled offense was virtually unstoppable right off the bat. In the end, Doncic’s triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) was nowhere near enough for his own team.
“They are a great team,” Hezonja said when asked about what the game plan on Doncic was. “This is not tennis, this is basketball. We prepared for everybody. We know how they are. You need to respect them. They were European champions a couple of years ago. We know that they are extremely dangerous. Together, together, together and we got the victory.”