Mario Hezonja said his return to the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers is about giving everything he can to the team after building his game and completing his goals in European basketball.
Speaking during Cavaliers media day on Monday, September 28, Hezonja explained that returning to the NBA had remained an option throughout his years in Europe, but he wanted to accomplish goals that had been left unfinished after he entered the league as a young player.
“It was always a little bit bothering me, you know, the coming to NBA unaccomplished, you know, very young,” Hezonja said. “So, definitely blessed and thankful to have clubs that wanted me, that supported me through my goals and all my achievements.”
Hezonja said he became serious about returning after the 2020 NBA bubble, but wanted to first accomplish what he had set out to achieve in Europe.
“I wanted to accomplish all of these things that I haven’t before I got drafted,” he said.
The 31-year-old spent the majority of his post-NBA career in Europe, playing for Panathinaikos and Real Madrid after leaving the Portland Trail Blazers in 2020. Hezonja said the experience allowed him to continually add elements to his game during summers and then apply those improvements across full seasons.
“I always love to have my American mindset about getting better in the summers and improving and adding layers to your game,” Hezonja said. “So I could already do this here in summers and then I get the opportunity to put those summers into entire seasons, multiple seasons in Europe.”
Hezonja also pointed to playing for teams built around him as an important part of his development.
“That was huge for me and obviously I had teams and clubs that were built around me,” he said. “So that definitely just skyrocketed my mentality, my progress because I’m all about basketball.”
His physical development has also changed significantly since he entered the NBA. Hezonja said he was drafted at around 6-foot-6 and 190 pounds, whereas he now returns at approximately 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds.
“That definitely adds to the versatility the team can use,” Hezonja said.
That versatility is central to how Hezonja views his role with Cleveland. With Donovan Mitchell and James Harden leading the offense, he said he is not returning expecting to replicate the role he had earlier in his career.
“I don’t need to prove anything. I just need to give,” Hezonja said. “This is my mentality.”
Hezonja added that he is comfortable fitting into whatever the Cavaliers need from him.
“I’m here to fit into and to help everybody,” he said. “I’m super experienced, been through everything pretty much in my entire career.”
The veteran forward also praised Cleveland’s existing culture after watching the team throughout the regular season and playoffs.
“It’s a really like tiny family that is all about winning and about small details that matter off the basketball and with the basketball,” Hezonja said.
Hezonja said the established group and defined identity made Cleveland an attractive destination for his NBA return.
“They have a group that is playing together for a long time,” he said. “There is an identity, a DNA, so I’m just a plus.”
Hezonja finished by describing the mindset that has carried him through his career and back to the NBA.
“I’m not even coming here with my mentality of who I am back in Europe,” he said. “The mentality is giving, giving to this team, giving to this coach, giving to my teammates just giving back what they invested in me.”
