How the Utah Jazz have been better this season without Rudy Gobert

How the Utah Jazz have been better this season without Rudy Gobert by Mitchell Hansen

As recently as two weeks ago, the Orlando Magic looked ready to move on from Mario Hezonja. Now, he’s giving them reason to hang around.

We live in a time where, whether you’re watching a game or not, Twitter can tell you all of the most important things that are happening in the world of sports at a particular moment.

Sunday was no exception, and while there where the few sad souls like me who watched all four quarters of the butt-kicking the Detroit Pistons handed the Orlando Magic, most didn’t.

After one quarter however, I decided to keep the Twitter tab open alongside League Pass, because not for the first time that week, Mario Hezonja was doing things.

Remember him? The fifth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft who the Magic had given a cute little Super Mario noise to that rang out every time he made a bucket?

Only that sound has never really been heard much around AmWay Center at all, with Hezonja averaging 4.7 points per game this season — somehow lower than the 5.4 per game he’s averaged for his career to this point.

While the eyes of America were on that bonkers NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, those hardy few watched on as Hezonja’s online presence grew.

By the time it was all said and done, the NFL game was trending worldwide, but Hezonja was on there too — albeit a lot further down the list of hot topics online.

His 28 points were a career-high, and he did so while going an outrageous 8-of-12 from 3-point range, making all manner of shots.

The Magic almost came back from the brink too, eventually succumbing to the Pistons 114-110. More than 20 points down at one point, it should really have finished 114-107. Only Hezonja, unwilling to let the game die, went down fighting right to the last. He made one more shot as time expired, just because he could.

It was the kind of performance we’ve waited years for, and it appeared on a mostly uninspired slate of Sunday games in the league.

All of which begs the question: Does Mario Hezonja actually deserve one more chance with this team, and would they be foolish to let him go now?

The major knock on Hezonja’s entire time with the Magic has been the complete lack of confidence he has shown when on the court. It’s hard to blame the guy — who is still only 22 years old — completely for this. He has played for two different coaches during his brief time with the team.

Scott Skiles took over the reins the summer Hezonja was drafted by Rob Hennigan, a general manager who is no longer with the team either. It’s hard to build any kind of stability and confidence in those conditions, never mind a basic understanding of offensive and defensive schemes.

So when he got a chance on the court (his minutes per game have decreased every year since being drafted), Hezonja would force things just to try and show people he could play.

As a result, guys like Jonathon Simmons would bypass him on the offensive end because they didn’t trust his shot-making ability or decision-making, and they were right to do so.

Heading into December, the storyline around Hezonja remained the same. A career low in minutes (13.1 per game) and in danger of falling out of the second unit rotation completely.

In his first six games of the month, Hezonja scored 13 points — not in one crazy night, but spread over those contests, two of which were against the Atlanta Hawks.

This is everything he did of note against the Denver Nuggets, and while it’s not the easiest shot to take, it was the only basket he made all night:

Then the injuries really piled up for the Magic, and out of necessity more than anything else, Hezonja was forced to play more minutes.

Over the past three games, all losses, Hezonja has played 35, 21 and 31 minutes respectively. During those contests he scored 17, four and 28 points. But none stand out like what he did to the Pistons, who like the Magic, must wish they could return to those early season good vibes.

The confidence broke out a little bit against the Los Angeles Clippers, and even receded some during that four-point outing against the Portland Trail Blazers. But Sunday night was what Magic fans had been waiting for since “Super Mario” joined the team in 2015.

It was all well and good, capable of giving us a warm fuzzy feeling — especially with the team having lost 16 of its last 19 games.

Now we get to the interesting part. With guys like Jonathan Isaac back from injury, and Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier not far behind, what will happen to Hezonja?

Conventional wisdom would suggest a return to being the bit-part player that he was, but head coach Frank Vogel was happy with what he saw from the Croatian after the game.

“Mario’s got some ability. He’s just a young player like a lot of guys on our team that is going to have his spurts and is going to make a lot of mistakes. But that’s part of where we’re at… I was happy to see him have a bit of a breakthrough game tonight.”

Given that the lineup clearly needs a shake-up to get back to winning ways as well, this could be Hezonja’s chance to see more minutes, at least until the roster is fully healthy again.

Hezonja’s team option for next season was declined back in November, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Magic should tread carefully here, and only need to look to former players like Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris to see what can happen if you give up on a guy too soon.

The Magic wouldn’t want to let another potential young asset slip through their fingers, and no matter what, another team is going to take a flier on him.

He’s got another chance or two left in the league, and whether it’s with a rebuilding team like the Chicago Bulls or an ironclad system like the San Antonio Spurs, Hezonja will find a home.

No matter what happens in the future though, Hezonja’s attitude has been tremendous throughout his tenure with the team. He’s never vented his frustrations to the media, and has only ever spoken about how hard he is willing to work to make it in Orlando.

Mario Hezonja: “I missed that three at the end, and I didn’t do a good enough job closing out on shooters. I gotta watch a lot of film… I just wanna help my team as much as I can. I’m not changing myself, I’m not losing any confidence, I know who I am.” — The Lando (@TheLando__) December 17, 2017

It may seem cliche to say, but guys who say things like that generally have the right mentality required to be a professional athlete of note.

With the remainder of the season looking quite bleak, the Orlando Magic should give Mario Hezonja one last, proper chance to prove himself — if only to hear that Super Mario noise ring out around AmWay a few more times before both parties move on.