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DATA AND CAREER
Aday Mara, center born in 2005 in Zaragoza, owns a cyclopic body, which measures 220cm for 106 kg (as es.wikipedia reports), and has in addition an incredible wingspan (7’6, around 230cm).
The Aragona’s scion has in fact a quite impressive height, already from his young age, such that now he’s one of the tallest hoopers in ACB, even if he had turned 17 only on April.
Just like every ‘choosen one’, Mara can’t be nothing but a born into art. The aragonese center has lived and breathed sports since he had landed on this earth, as both his parents were pros at the highest level of Spanish competitions.
His mother, Geli Gómez, the luckiest of the two, was a top volleyball player in the Superliga Femenina de Voleibol, a tournament that she has won six times in her career, even gaining 4 championships in a row with Tenerife, between ’96 and 2000.
His father, Francisco Mara, was a basketball player and suited up for 5 games in ACB within ’86 and ’88, making his first appearance in the most important Spanish competition when he had only 17 years and 11 months, wearing the jersey of what at the time was CAI Zaragoza. It was the 13th September 1986.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, it’s the laconic adage with a bit of fatalism which is told by conventional wisdom.
On the 16th October of 36 years later, a young man at 17 years and 11 months will suit up with the white-and-red ‘camiseta‘, walking in his father’s footsteps.
But we’re hurring too much, let’s take a step back.
The small Aday tried in fact to deflect that future which now he seems so clearly destined to. His first love was the ‘fútbol‘, since he started to play between the sticks, trying to emulate a childhood idol like the legendary goalkeeper Iker Casillas. The fact that he was good using his hands was already a great hint, who knew what the future would have reserved…
When he was only 8, that young boy was already 1,67m and someone understood that basketball was his proper sport. The little wonder boy took his first steps in what will be his lucky relationship with hoops playing for Basket Lupus, a mini-basketball team in Zaragoza. Then, it was just a matter of time for him to be recruited by the prestigious Casademont Zaragoza ‘cantera‘.
The Aragon’s capital youth sector is in fact working so well in recent years, cranking out a lot of young prospects with a bright future, including guys already on the rise, like Alocen and Pradilla, or guys who are still to be rough-hew, like Langarita and Mara.
The following ones are Luis Arabalejo‘s words, the responsible of the Casademont’s youth sector at the time the little Aday was recruited.
“We went to visit him at school. He was an head above the others. He was very shy, so attached to his parents as an only child. At the beginning it was difficult. We had to be a lot patient. We were all aware to have in front of us a great prospect, but for him it was hard to compete, to run the floor, even the contact with rivals. He wasn’t able to beat anyone in 1-on-1. We couldn’t let him fall in processes that would have cause him frustration.”
Luis Arbalejo, from El Mundo
The faith was all towards him, well paired with care and patience, – those are fundamental with a young kid – since it was already stunning his talent, evidently superior like that “head above the others“.
Today that head is flying above the clouds, high in the sky. Things, since the time of the shy little kid just discovered from Zaragoza, are really changed.
“There isn’t an NBA franchise that is not sending reports about Aday’s improvements every month. He has not limits, his hidden quality is competitiveness. He isn’t the typical gentle giant, he has creativity and personality.”
Luis Arbalejo, from El Mundo
One of the most highlighted qualities, and from so many different voices, that is blossomed right during the years spent in his native city ‘cantera‘, it’s the awareness he has about his body and about his physical means. His strong personality is very clear in a way of thinking that’s not assumed for these kind of bodies, those are so huge that they’re always at the fine line between appearing frightful and appearing ridiculous, like a freak of nature.
The tragedy about feeling uncomfortable, misplaced, the paradox of giants which make themselves gentle to not look like ogres, behemots that from their power receive only the distress to be different from all the people in the world.
In Mara’s mind, there’s nothing like this. He is, as El Mundo tells, ‘el gigante ‘sin complejos’.
“Everybody asks about him. He aroused everyone’s attention in the World Cup final, with all the self-confidence and perseverance he showed against USA. He’s a guy ‘sin complejos’ (without complexes, he takes things lightheartedly, Ed). Those who are this high usually are a bit shy. He accept his own body. He doesn’t care, he’s a joker.“
Jorge Sanz, Spanish U-17 assistant, from El Mundo
The nowdays ‘joker’ has grown over time, entertaining and having fun on the court, through a progressive path, provided for him by Zaragoza, which had planned for his development experiences in the fourth Spanish league, called Liga EBA, and in the second Iberic competion, called LEB Oro.
In fact, when he was 15, he made his first appearance with Baloncesto El Olivar in EBA, collecting at the end of the year 11 presences with an average of 6.7 points, 5.3 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per game. The next year he increased his appearances with the adults, since he splitted his contribution between El Olivar, Casademont associated team in minor leagues, and the second league squad Levit Huesca.
So the last season he recorded in 6 LEB Oro games an average of 2.7 points and 3.8 boards, while his growth was explosive in EBA, where his numbers were 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.8 blocks per game and he had some performances that have really left a mark.
One of the most symbolic moments in the approach march towards the world of pros was a real destiny crossroads, about which in Spain they talked so much about as a very significant event. The last season, the one of Marc Gasol’s return in Spanish basketball with Girona, right in LEB Oro, offered the possibility for the meeting between the former NBA legend and Roja‘s front-court future.
Pau’s brother debutted, in his comeback after 13 years in US, at the beginning of December 2021, in a Girona-Huesca match. When the horse had bolted from a while, (73-38 in Catalans favor), Huesca’s coach decided to send on the floor the sixteen-year-old Mara and, even if the two shared the court for few seconds, this was enough for an historic picture.
A lot of people saw that like a sort of handover. The juxtaposition with the former Memphis Grizzlies’ player is uncomfortable for the 90% of athletes, but it tells a lot about the special way with which the Zaragoza’s golden boy has been perceived. Maybe in a couple of years he’ll remind the time when he found himself facing Marc Gasol in post-up… How much this picture will be considered iconic in the future, at the end of the day, depends fully on Mara.
While he was having his different experiences in FEB competitions, Mara had the possibility to show his talent in front of an international audience, in the classic ANGT games organized by Euroleague, Istanbul 2021 and Varese 2022, but, above all, in the Under-17 World Cup, that took place in Malaga.
If in the case of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Turkey he preliminarily showcased his game against two years older opponents, with really good numbers – 8.5 points, 10.5 boards, 3,5 assist and 14 of P.I.R. -, it was in occasion of the global FIBA competition that he was acclaimed with the biggest consensus, particularly from the overseas scouts. In that tournament his stats were 12.6 points, 5 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.6 assist and 16.4 in term of efficiency per game.
Sixth for efficiency in the competition, in particular Mara has been in the spotlight during the hard-fought final match against Team USA, which earned the Spanish representative the silver medal. In that game he produced 16 points, 7 boards and 5 blocks in 26′.
Only great impressions in the experience that introduced him to the beginning of a very important season, the current one. Good feelings distributed, begging with international scouts, arriving to his own coach, Javi Zamora, the selector for the Under-17 Spanish national team.
“My experience with Aday this summer with the National team was sensational. He has great leadership. His tolerance for frustration caught my attention.“
Javi Zamora, Spanish U-17 coach, from El Mundo
A kind of appreciation that goes far above his basketball qualities, far above the unique talent Mara can express in a basketball court and about what we’ll debate later, here we’re talking about human virtues. An other substance, an other value.
“He’s a guy that love so much what he’s doing and in stressful moments, in moments where he’s facing adversities… he always has the smile on his face, he understands what’s happening and with a maturity so rare for his age. He’s an humble guy, very normal and extroverted“
Javi Zamora, Under-17 Spain national coach, da Diario AS
The power of a smile, the joy of the game and of the inebriated youth, but also wits, leadership, competitive passion: an epitome of lucid enthusiasm which cannot result in nothing but a prodigious added value.
Maybe it’s the case, a this point, to rejoin the narrative thread, with the facts about we were telling before, chronicles from the aragonese land back to 36 years ago, but for the record it’s appropriate to underline that Mara’s real baptism of fire in the world of pros has been in FIBA Europe Cup against Reggio Emilia. It was November 2021, Ponsarnau gave him an occasion in the insignificant ending match of the group phase from which Zaragoza were already excluded. For him it was the debut with the first team, he had 2 points and 2 rebounds.
But that’s only the foretaste, a sort of catwalk without great value.
The true opportunity comes to him around a month ago. Zaragoza doesn’t get anything right, the team is in full crisis and, with a lot of absences, coach Schiller decide to let him play against a very competent opponent as Baskonia.
We all hope it has been the beginning of something special. Surely audience’s clamour, the pride of wearing the jersey his father wore 36 years before, the emotion to step on the ‘Pabellón Príncipe Felipe’ floor as a Zaragoza native, made special a debut that couldn’t be more surprising.
Mara scored 8 points, with 4 boards and one three, a performance which gave heart to a whole community. His audacity was sublime poetry in motion on the court.
“Aday Mara had a remarkable impact in offense, thanks to his ability to play the pick and roll. […] when he gets the ball near the basket he can do a lot of things, he helped us so much in this aspect. At 17, he debutted so well.”
Martin Schiller, former Casademont coach, from Marca
His game was a perfect way to access an exclusive Golden Boy group, who were capable to have a such an impact at the debut in ACB at this young age, a club that become even more restricted if we consider big-men with that kind of height.
A first act on the stage that was seen by a lot of people as historic, but that hasn’t erase his duties as a young boy in “Bachillerato” age, the second level in the secondary Spanish school.
In fact, as El Mundo reports, the Monday following Baskonia’s game was immediatly the time to study for Mara. In the exam week, studying couldn’t be left aside, since there is a traced path to study Physioterapy in university, and giving up isn’t a possibility. It seems that in family they care so much about it and they’re not allowing the Spanish wonder kid to let his guard down.
However, it looks like his contribution is stabilizing more and more, even with the arrival of the new coach Porfi Fisac, who granted him 18′ minutes in the following three games, in which Mara scored the beauty of 14 points (these stats are updated to the article writing date, Ed). We talked already about the great exploit against merengues…
Now in ACB he won a lot of hearts, with that kind of contagious happiness and that childish face, that’s suitable to an ephebic Apollo. The fate calls him to a divine destiny, the Oracle of Delphi still hasn’t spoken.
Sources: https://www.marca.com/baloncesto/acb/2022/10/17/634cc46e46163fd7638b457b.html, https://www.marca.com/baloncesto/euroliga/2021/03/21/6057459e268e3e53638b45aa.html, https://www.elmundo.es/deportes/baloncesto/liga-endesa/2022/10/18/634d4f3be4d4d885348b458d.html, https://www.marca.com/baloncesto/basketfeb/2021/12/04/61ab5e81e2704e2d808b4598.html, https://as.com/baloncesto/aday-mara-el-unicornio-espanol-n/
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