OKC Thunder rookie Aday Mara appears ready to play this NBA season, which begins Tuesday with a road game against the San Antonio Spurs, despite contradictory claims from his former Spanish club.
Mara played for Basket Zaragoza, a hometown team in the ACB League, prior to beginning his college career at UCLA in 2023. The team then sued Mara in a Spanish court that year, stating he unilaterally terminated his contract to make said move, and sought roughly $608,000 as an exit fee. The case is still ongoing.
FIBA regulations don't require an international transfer to play in the NCAA, so Mara was ultimately able to spend two seasons at UCLA and one at Michigan. OKC then selected him with the No. 12 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
But Basket Zaragoza general manager José Artigas claimed to The Oklahoman on Wednesday that Mara is still under contract with the team through the 2026-27 NBA season. It would therefore consider it a violation of NBA-FIBA regulations if Mara played in an official NBA game without receiving a Letter of Clearance from Basket Zaragoza.
"We would like Aday to have a successful NBA career," Artigas said. "But we must defend our right to uphold agreements freely entered into by the parties and ensure respect for the institution and all its fans."
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The Oklahoman received a response to said claims from a Thunder spokesperson on Friday.
“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 said.
Basket Zaragoza said it formally communicated its position to FIBA after OKC drafted Mara in June. However, that was not confirmed when The Oklahoman reached out to FIBA about the situation.
"Please, note that FIBA has not received official notification from either party and about the matter mentioned in your query," a FIBA spokesperson said Saturday. "Therefore, it is not possible to provide any comment."
Mara impressed during OKC's five preseason games. The 7-foot-3 center averaged 13.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.4 blocks in 23.3 minutes while shooting 78.8% from the field.
OKC has plenty of options at the center position with Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams returning. It's also awaiting the debut of 2025 draft selection Thomas Sorber. Still, Mara is making a strong case to earn immediate minutes on a Thunder team that has championship aspirations.
OKC's season opener against San Antonio tips off at 8:30 p.m. CT Tuesday (NBC). It'll mark a rematch of the 2026 Western Conference finals, which San Antonio won in seven games.
Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder asserts Aday Mara's NBA eligibility despite claims from former Spanish club