Ehe sudden death of José María Martn Urbano has left Malaga basketball very touched. That one who today has gathered around his figure to say the last goodbye to a key figure in the former Caja Ronda and current Unicaja. Personalities from the Malaga basket have met and spoken with MARCA to pay tribute to the figure of Martn Urbano, who said goodbye yesterday doing what he wanted most, to see Unicaja win against him.
Antonio Jesús López Nieto, president of the Los Guindos group, was the first to lament this terrible loss. “For us it is a moment of pain, of a pain that has come as a surprise. Yesterday and all week I have spoken with him for many reasons. He has all the support and recognition of those who make up Unicaja. Now what we have to do is talk of a figure as serious and positive as José María Martn Urbano. I still can’t believe what happened yesterday. It was very important for Malaga. Unfortunately, we have had some very big losses recently together with Queipo de Llano and Javier Imbroda”, he pointed out.
Sergio Scariolo has also been present with MARCA. The current selector still couldn’t believe it. “The last time we spoke was after the Eurobasket. It has been a very hard blow. A streak where people close to the world of basketball in Malaga are leaving. I remember that when I arrived in Malaga he invited me to dinner, with Queipo as well, to give me welcome. He taught me how to hang out in Mlaga during Holy Week. Everyone in basketball has to be grateful to the teacher, in the full sense of the word”.
The list of people who wanted to say goodbye to this basketball genius was long. Another of those who attended MARCA was Carlos Cabezas. “I’m not going to discover Jos Mara: one of the fathers of Malaga basketball. I signed my father in 1980, that’s why I’m from Malaga. I have to be grateful to him. He was a wise man of life: flamenco, the brotherhoods, obviously basketball. He didn’t care about anything or anyone. That passion and aggressiveness of saying things was very much his. What José María takes most with him are his friends, the most important thing for him, “he said.
