While the basketball planet has been caught up in the whirlwind of “Wembamania” for a few weeks, it is another physical phenomenon, a unicorn 2.0, which has appeared on the other side of the Pyrenees.
At 17 years, 6 months and 9 days, Candidate Mara (2m20) made his big professional debut with Zaragoza, making him the youngest 7-footer to start in Liga ACB, ahead of Kristaps Porzingis in particular. For a first, he was pretty good with 8 points (3/4 on shots), 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in 19 minutes of play.
“Aday Mara had a very noticeable impact in attack with his ability to play the pick & roll above the circle,” said his manager, Martin Schiller on Marca. “After receiving the ball near the circle he can do a lot of things, he helped us a lot in that area. For a 17-year-old kid, he got off to a great start. »
Son of Francisco Javier Mara, fleeting player of CAI Zaragoza in the 1980s, and international volleyball player Geli Gómez, Aday Mara is an athlete to follow because of his size obviously, but also because of his technical qualities. And especially on the pass.
“Since I was little, I read the game pretty well,” he explains on the FIBA website. “That’s why, when I train, I always try to improve my passing so that in matches I have as few misses as possible. »
“Since Jokic, we have not seen a European interior with this quality of passer”
Last season, Aday Mara divided his time between two teams: first, he tried it in the Spanish second division with Huesca. But at 3 points and 4 rebounds in six games, he preferred to go down to the fourth division with Olivar, where he found playing time for 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks on average.
Last November, he even tasted the European Cup by playing a Eurocup match against the Italian club Reggio Emilia (2 points, 2 rebounds in 7 minutes). This summer, with “Roja”, he won silver at the U17 World Cup, beaten in the final by the United States.
This season, if he is not yet part of the full-time pro workforce, Aday Mara will nevertheless be able to compete against high-level players in La Liga almost every week.
Outraged Victor Wembanyama with whom he is necessarily compared by their proximity in age and their morphotype from another dimension, Aday Mara also attracts other flattering comparisons with another European pivot, and not the least, since he is already in the NBA and he has made his hole pretty well there, with two consecutive MVP titles in particular: Nikola Jokic.
“He has a quality of passing that cannot be taught”, explains an NBA scout. “The vision of the game, the eyes behind the head, the timing and the precision: it’s excellent for stretching the defenses and annihilating the doubles or the help. Since Jokic, we have not seen a European interior with this quality of passing. »
