This feels like a naked money grab — and the Oklahoma City Thunder are pushing back.
Spanish club Casademont Basket Zaragoza is saying it holds the rights to Aday Mara — the Oklahoma City rookie drafted No. 12 last June — through 2027 and plans to block Mara from playing in the NBA, at least until there is a financial settlement, reports Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. Zaragoza released this statement to the Spanish newspaper Heraldo de Aragón, via Eurohoops.
"Basket Zaragoza wishes Aday Mara the best of luck in his new sporting endeavors and remains committed to developing players in its youth academy. At the same time, as an organization, the Club has an obligation to protect its rights, ensure compliance with existing contracts, and defend the interests of Basket Zaragoza, taking all necessary legal action."
The Thunder aren't buying it, noting the obvious: This wasn't an issue when Mara played three years of college basketball stateside (two at UCLA, one at Michigan, where he won a national championship). However, when he gets drafted and gets an NBA contract, his old Spanish club has its hand out.
"Aday last played three years of NCAA college basketball and therefore, as advised by the NBA, no clearance from the Spanish team is required for him to play in the NBA," a Thunder spokesperson told NBC Sports.
Mara did come up through his hometown club of Zaragoza in Spain, working through its youth ranks and making his first-team debut back in 2021 when only 16. Two years later, when Mara agreed to play for UCLA, Zaragoza tried to contest his eligibility, saying he was under contract with them. That didn't go as the club had hoped.
This likely will go the same way for the club. Mara and the Thunder are set to open their season next Tuesday night on NBC in what feels like Game 8 of last year's Western Conference Finals. The Thunder/Spurs game tips off at 9:30 Eastern on NBC and Peacock, the final game of an NBC triple-header to open the season, including Boston at Detroit (3 p.m. ET), LeBron James and the 76ers trying to spoil ring night for the champion New York Knicks at 7 p.m. Eastern. All those games are on NBC and streaming on Peacock.