Aday Mara, the pearl of Spanish basketball conquered the NBA
The Casademont Zaragoza youth squad will participate in the BWB Global Camp during the NBA All-Star weekend.
The 17-year-old, 2.20-meter center has barely made his ACB debut this season but he is already averaging 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 10 minutes of play.
Spanish basketball has been enjoying enviable health for more than two decades and producing the best talents in the world with permission from the United States. The recent Eurobasket is just another example of this reality, reinforced by the appearance of young promises such as Aday Mara, who will embark at the age of 17 on her first adventure abroad, in the United States, under the watchful eye of none other than of the NBA.
The Casademont Zaragoza youth squad player, a 2.20-meter center who recently debuted in the Endesa League, will participate in the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp scheduled from February 17 to 19 in Salt Lake City, where the All-Star Weekend will take place on the same dates. The NBA has decided to invite you to the BWB Global Camp, a joint initiative with FIBA, as part of the top 40 promising players from around the world, from 27 different countries.
On this campus, the best players of their generation, all of the high school age from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, will participate in a variety of activities, including anthropometric and athletic tests, movement efficiency, skill development stations, shooting and skills and matches with a single elimination tournament, under the direction of the NBA staff. Aday has already participated in BWB Europe, leaving a very good feeling.
That the best basketball league in the world is paying attention to him, especially at his young age and with so little experience as a professional, is a great sign of the bright future that Mara holds. Especially if we analyze the current NBA, in which 38 talents discovered thanks to this project already play regularly. Great news also for the Portuguese Ruben Prey (Joventut Badalona), the Argentine Dylan Bordon (Gran Canaria), and the Senegalese Ousmane N’diaye (Baskonia), ACB representatives at the BWB Global Camp.
A brilliant start to his career
To understand the dimension of his figure and his irruption as a professional in ACB, it is enough to analyze the numbers that Aday Mara has recorded so far. The teenager is averaging 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in just over 10 minutes with Casademont Zaragoza in the Endesa League. Since his debut, he has also not stopped starring in stellar moments in his irruption in the first team.
On his first day, he appeared before Spain in a big way, at 17 years, 6 months, and 9 days old, demonstrating his enormous potential despite the defeat at his own home by Casademont Zaragoza 83-97 against him. Baskonia bucket. The basketball player, born in Zaragoza, signed 8 points (2 of 3 on 2-point shots (there were two dunks), 1 of 2 free throws, and 1 of 1 on three-pointers), 4 rebounds, and 1 assist in 19 minutes.
A few months earlier, in the summer of 2022, he had already shown his potential to the entire world at an international level, winning a silver medal at the U-17 World Cup held in Malaga in which he helped Spain reach the final against the United States. United with statistics of 12.6 points 5 rebounds and 1.6 assists, and a great impact on the game.
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Who is Aday Mara?
Aday Mara was born on April 7, 2005 in Zaragoza. He is the son of basketball player Francisco Javier Mara (he played five ACB games with Basket Zaragoza between 1986 and 1988) and volleyball player Geli Gómez, so sports, basketball, and love for his city come from his cradle. However, it is curious that he took his first steps as an athlete playing as a soccer goalkeeper until his height of 1.67 at eight years old made him change his gloves for the basket.
In his early days as a basketball player, he played for Basket Lupus until he caught the attention of the Casademont Zaragoza base formation. In the 2020-21 season, still as a cadet, he played in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Istanbul in which he averaged 8.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game, and made the leap to the Club that same season. Basketball El Olivar of the EBA League, a subsidiary of his current club. he averaged 6.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in the almost 21 minutes he played on average.
In this dynamic, he alternated training sessions with the first team, under the orders of Jaume Ponsarnau, who made him a participant in the first team’s preseason. He debuted in LEB Oro that same year with Levitec Huesca, although he was quickly called up to the Casademont Zaragoza first team to make his debut in a match against Reggio Emilia on matchday six of the group stage of the Fiba Europe Cup, barely a year before taking the final step towards professional basketball.
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