In the early stages of his NBA career, Dwight Howard was handed no easy task: reviving a struggling Orlando Magic franchise and restoring relevance for the first time since the Shaquille O'Neal era.
When Howard was drafted, it had been exactly nine years since O'Neal and Penny Hardaway led the Florida-based team to the NBA Finals and ever since, the organization had struggled to get back on that path.
During those early years, Howard was paired with Balkan centers twice, first with Croatian big man Mario Kasun, and later with Darko Milicic. Both were natural big men who had to slide to power forward alongside Howard. Recently, the 2020 NBA champion fondly remembered his time with Kasun.
"Yeah, my favorite Mario Kasun, the Croatian sensation, one of my favorite players of all time and one of my favorite teammates," Howard said with a smile in an interview with "Sportklub". "He always sounded like a guy who fought Rocky Balboa, like Drago, the way he talked. Like, 'Yeah, I am the Croatian sensation.' I loved his accent."
"But when we got on the court, his physicality, the tattoos… For me, he looked like some guy from a mafia movie who just happened to play basketball. It was so much fun having Mario on the team. I learned a lot from him even though we were both young when we started. I'm grateful he was my teammate and that he taught me a lot about life," he added.
If Milicic was once viewed as the Serbian successor to Vlade Divac, then Kasun was often seen as a potential heir to Dino Radja, though his physical presence differed from Radja's smoother style of play.
Unlike Milicic, Kasun didn't enter the league with major hype as he was selected with the 41st pick in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers and was traded to Orlando on draft night.
A Balkan center drafted 41st overall, who few believed in at the start of his career — sounds familiar?
Still, the 7-foot-1 physical beast spent just two seasons in Orlando, appearing in 73 games and averaging 2.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per contest.
While Kasun didn't leave a major on-court mark in the league, he did make headlines for controversial comments about Kevin Garnett .
"Big Ticket. He was my idol when I grew up," Kasun admitted . "I came before the game and asked him, 'KG, can you sign my shoes?' I went to the game wearing his retro model. And he told me, 'Kid, go away, take off those shoes, you don't have my permit to wear my shoes.'"
"I got those Adidas and I really liked them. White shoes, thick soles. I politely asked him to sign them, but he just turned around and walked away. He talked trash all the time," Kasun added, expressing disappointment over the encounter.
Kasun never fully reached his potential in Europe either, though he played for respected clubs such as Barcelona. Later in his career, he dealt with heart problems, and what once looked like a promising path faded quietly, ending at just 33 years old.
It's a shame, as with more belief in his abilities, he might have carved out a more respectable career. Still, his love for basketball never faded. At 45, he continues to play in amateur leagues in Croatia, competing and dominating opponents much younger than him.
After all the setbacks and misfortunes he experienced, it's good to see that the passion for the game remained with him.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
