Mario Kasun (born April 5, 1980) is a Croatian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position.

Professional career

Kasun started playing basketball at a local club in

Delnice Delnice () is a town in western Croatia, the largest settlement in the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar, in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. The town has a population of 4,379, and total municipality population is 5,952 (2011). Delnice is Gor ...

when he was 14, before he started playing professionally with BC Zrinjevac in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

. He was part of the 1998–99 Croatian junior team and the Croatian under-21 team in 2000. After two seasons in the Zagreb club, and winning the Croatian Cup, in 2000 he moved to

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, but was subsequently suspended by the

Croatian Basketball Federation The Croatian Basketball Federation ( hr, Hrvatski košarkaški savez) is a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body of basketball in Croatia. It was founded on 19 December 1948 as a member of the larger Basketball Federati ...

for this abrupt move, and spent two seasons on the bench. Kasun played at 2002 NBA pre-draft camp in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, being one of the tallest players, and showing some center skills. During 50 minutes over three games, he totalled 20 points and had 14 rebounds and six blocked shots, converting nine of 17 shots (52.9%).NBA.com: Mario Kasun
/ref> In 2002, he was initially selected by the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

's (NBA)

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

in the second round (41st overall) of the 2002 NBA draft. On June 26, he was traded by the Clippers to the Orlando Magic in exchange for future considerations. Regardless of this, he then moved to Germany to play for the Deutsche Bank Skyliners, based in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. With them he won the German championship and also appeared in the

2003–04 ULEB Cup The 2003–04 ULEB Cup was the second season of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, EuroCup Basketball, organized by the Euroleague Basketball Company. The EuroCup is the European-wide league level that is o ...

. In 2004, he returned to the US to play for the Orlando Magic. In the 2004–05 season he played in 45 games for Orlando and averaged 7.9 minutes per game. In 2005–06, he appeared in 28 games. Kasun's final NBA game was played on March 4th, 2006 in a 94 - 110 loss to the Denver Nuggets where he recorded 4 points in 4 minutes of playing time. Kasun averaged 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in a total of 73 games in his NBA career. In July 2006 he returned to Europe again, signing with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

and later in 2008 with Efes Pilsen. In August 2010 he returned to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and signed a one-year contract with

KK Zagreb Košarkaški klub Zagreb ( en, Zagreb Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Zagreb or simply Zagreb, was a professional basketball club based in Zagreb, Croatia. It competed in the ABA League and the Croatian League. In the 2011–12 seaso ...

. In August 2012 he signed a two-year contract with

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana 1871 Basket is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from sponsor Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, ...

. In December 2012, Kasun left the team for personal reasons. In September 2013, he signed with Al Wasl Dubai for the 2013–14 season. In 2014 he had to play for

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

another two seasons before retiring, but the club president was arrested for tax evasions just as he was due to sign for the club, so he never played for them. In February 2018 he played one match for KK Samobor, a regional division club from Croatia.

Euroleague career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 7 , , 15.9 , , .569 , , .000 , , .875 , , 4.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , .5 , , 11.9 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", FC Barcelona , 21 , , 12 , , 17.6 , , .620 , , .000 , , .661 , , 3.9 , , .7 , , .4 , , .6 , , 9.6 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;", Efes Pilsen , 1 , , 0 , , 10.3 , , .600 , , .000 , , .667 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 8.0 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Efes Pilsen , 16 , , 12 , , 15.8 , , .655 , , .000 , , .643 , , 5.8 , , .5 , , .4 , , .5 , , 8.0 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 9 , , 25.1 , , .536 , , .000 , , .800 , , 6.6 , , .9 , , .7 , , .9 , , 12.2 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, style="text-align:left;", Montepaschi , 8 , , 4 , , 10.9 , , .500 , , .000 , , .556 , , 4.0 , , .3 , , .4 , , .6 , , 5.0 , , 5.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 63 , , 44 , , 17.0 , , .592 , , .000 , , .700 , , 4.7 , , .6 , , .4 , , .6 , , 9.2 , , 10.1

Croatian national team

Kasun was part of the

Croatia national basketball team The Croatia men's national basketball team ( hr, Hrvatska košarkaška reprezentacija) represents Croatia in international basketball matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Basketball Federation (HKS). The biggest success Croatia has ...

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as Europe qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, giving a berth ...

EuroBasket 2007 The 2007 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2007, was the 35th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2008 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to th ...

and

EuroBasket 2009 The 2009 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2009, was the 36th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Poland, began on 7 September and concluded with the ...

. After a disappointing result for Croatia in the Eurobasket 2009, Mario Kasun announced his retirement from the national team with this words: "This was my last game for the national team. Every time I gave everything on the court, but it seems that is not enough. I need the summer to rest and not be injured. Obviously I am not stable in the head anymore."

Personal life

In a March 2005 interview with ''

Inside Hoops InsideHoops.com, or Inside Hoops, is a basketball news website that was founded in 1999 by Jeff Lenchiner. The site, which updates several times a day, primarily delivers NBA basketball coverage. The site also features basic daily college basketb ...

'', Kasun referred to

Dražen Petrović Dražen Petrović (; 22 October 1964 – 7 June 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s, before joining the Nati ...

as one of his favorite players and number one idol.InsideHoops.com – Mario Kasun Interview
/ref> Kasun is famous for his tattoos, of which he has 30. He got his first when he was only 15. His tattoos are mostly related with faith and his family. On his right forearm and wrist he has an angel and four letters: E, D, M and A. Those represent the first letter on the name of every member in his family: E for his sister "Eva", D for his father, "Drago" (angels, inner side of right biceps), M is meant for his own name, "Mario" and A for mother "Ankica" (right rib). On his back he has a big tattoo of another angel, which he describes as "watching my back".Kasun's tattoos

References

External links

Euroleague.net profile

Eurobasket.com profile

ACB.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasun, Mario 1980 births Living people ABA League players Anadolu Efes S.K. players Centers (basketball) Croatian expatriate basketball people in Germany Croatian expatriate basketball people in Spain Croatian expatriate basketball people in the United States Croatian men's basketball players FC Barcelona Bàsquet players KK Gorica players KK Zagreb players KK Zrinjevac players Köln 99ers players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers draft picks Mens Sana Basket players National Basketball Association players from Croatia Orlando Magic players Sportspeople from Vinkovci Skyliners Frankfurt players