Mario Hezonja showcases his Mario’ness in Rising Stars Challenge

Mario Hezonja looked like the player we saw in his highlight tapes, playing with swagger, aggression and fun. The Rising Stars Challenge brings that out.

This was the Mario Hezonja NBA Twitter wanted. Not the one who followed Scott Skiles‘ rules and tried his hardest to fit into a team. Not the one who made the simple plays or sometimes looked tentative trying to find his way through the league.

No, this was the Hezonja everyone wanted. The one who let everyone know how great he was and did not care what people thought — they loved it, by the way. This was the one who made Lionel Messi come watch him play.

Mario Hezonja has begun showing signs of what he can become on the floor during games of late. He has looked more consistent and confident in his role and on the floor. The slow development has begun to pay off.

But this? This was a showcase and an All-Star game. The BBVA Compass Rising Stars would be the opportunity for Hezonja to operate without worrying about that pesky defense and just create highlights.

Finally Hezonja could be the highlight machine that helped get him drafted No. 5 in last year’s draft. One day you just hope Hezonja’s play Friday becomes normal in the regular season.

Hezonja scored 19 points on 8-for-19 shooting with 10 rebounds and seven assists, coming very close to a triple double. He had 12 points in the first half of the 40-minute exhibition, making 5 of 12 in the first half.

That included plenty of drives through lax defense, long-range 3-pointers and behind-the-back passes. Hezonja was playing with all the flair his highlights suggested he had, displaying the range and vision Magic fans have seen only in flashes.

It also included one of the few defensive plays of the game:

That is how this game was going to go. It was a perfect showcase for Hezonja.

Of course, no one should take this as much of a sign of anything. It is an exhibition after all — a game where dunking is the norm rather than the exception.

For whatever it is worth Team USA defeated Team World 157-154, and the game did not even feel that much in the balance despite the proximity of the score. Kristaps Porzingis, Emmanuel Mudiay and Zach LaVine each scored 30 points. Andrew Wiggins added 29 points.

Again, there were plenty of highlights, lots of dunks and very little defense.

The only thing, and maybe the only player, that was not part of the fun was Elfrid Payton. Payton largely stayed on the periphery in failing to score or record an assist in 16:20 of play. To do that takes effort.

Payton did not do too much in last year’s game. It just may not be the type of exhibition he cares about as a player. Which is OK. This game says nothing about him or anyone as a player.

Except for maybe Hezonja.

This was Hezonja’s first real game on a national stage, and he flourished. He played with flair and freedom. The lack of defense sure helped with that. But he let things go and had fun. And it was easy to tell he was doing so.

This is the Mario Hezonja everyone wants to see eventually. One day, perhaps, the game will be so easy for him to pull these tricks out during a regular season game.

That is not what this game is for though. This game is for fun. And Hezonja certainly had a lot of that.