THAT'S THE STUFF!
TORONTO — St. Patrick’s Day hero Mario Hezonja had one idea flash through his mind when LeBron James got the ball in the backcourt with 15 seconds left and the game on the line. The moment almost got to him.
“I had a couple of thoughts,’’ Hezonja said. “Holy sh-t. I’m in the Garden in New York and I’m not even from here and I’m picking up LeBron James full court. After that, it was just locked in on what he was going to do but, that was my first thought. I was on him the whole game so I didn’t really realize [until] everyone’s on their feet and I’m the only one. It’s one-on-one full court and the entire world is watching.’’
After a rough-and-tumble first season with the Knicks, Hezonja was basking in the glory of his heroic Sunday moment when he blocked James’ driving leaner with 2.3 second left to seal the heartstopping 124-123 victory over the Lakers.
“After the last buzzer, you see they all storm to the court,’’ said the 24-year-old Croatian forward of his teammates. “That was fantastic to experience it.’’
Hezonja, who had missed 11 games with a leg injury and then, surprisingly, did not play upon his return Friday in San Antonio, called it probably his best NBA moment. But it was distracting as he prepared for Monday’s 128-92 blowout loss to the Raptors, in which he had eight points and five rebounds.
“I see it because when I open up social media, I can’t even do the stuff I was going to initially do,’’ Hezonja said. “It’s ridiculous the world we’re living right now. I have to do a better job of getting used to it. I’m not that into it at all. People just sending me weird pictures — editing pictures. That was pretty funny.”
Hezonja hadn’t seen the fullblown replay until Monday morning’s team meeting in the team’s hotel here. Hezonja said there were “a couple more smiles’’ before coach David Fizdale got back to business in reviewing their mistakes versus the Lakers and Toronto’s tendencies.
“We always make a point that when a guy has gone through something tough and he’s bounced back from it, we acknowledge that as a group,’’ Fizdale said. “We try to point that out every single time that’s happened to a guy.”
Indeed, Hezonja didn’t have much time to savor the moment and had no time for congratulatory phone calls Monday. But he reflected back on his life that included James as childhood inspiration.
“I think he’s the first guy I had his jersey when I was young,’’ said Hezonja, who scored an efficient 17 points on 4-for-8 shooting against the Lakers. “He was the first guy to ever talk to me out of all the AllStars. It was nothing bad. It was in my rookie year (2015) and he was the guy picking me up full court and [former Orlando coach] Scott Skiles put me at the point guard. It wasn’t that pleasant. He was one of the first guys to actually engage with conversation on the court when I was a rookie.”
It’s been a dreadful season for the league-worst Knicks (14-57) and there’s no telling whether Hezonja, a reclamation project, will return after signing just a one-year deal.
But if these are his final weeks with the Knicks, he’ll always have that Garden memory. Who knows? Maybe James will get the Lakers to chase Hezonja.
“As a group and individually you have to finish good,’’ Hezonja said. “Don’t do anything crazy to ruin your value. Just execute the team stuff and play your best basketball.”