His name is Adai Mara Gomet, he is 17 years old, 2.20m tall and just swallowed Real Madrid

We live in a time when everyone is looking for the next Giannis Antetokounmpo, but someone is probably playing a prank on us, and there are talents in world basketball that are very different from the Greek freak.

Victor Webanyama is an 18-year-old (at least) 7’2″ power forward who plays like Durant, Giannis and Gombert. Matas Bouzelis is an 18-year-old, six-foot-tall small forward who’s expected to overtake the Frenchman to be picked first in the 2024 NBA draft. And suddenly, something else worries us Phenomenon and forces us to keep an eye on Zaragoza.

Or rather, not so suddenly, because whoever “invests” in the small national teams and FIBA ​​tournaments every summer already knows who Adai Mara is. At 17 years old and 2.20 meters tall, the tall Spaniard gets his first chances this year with Zaragoza in the Liga Endesa and was presented to the whole world on Sunday (6/11), or at least to those who had him last July not seen battling 16-year-old 2.28m tall Canadian Olivier Rioux at the World Junior Championships.

Adai Mara Gomet, as his full name is, played in A2 Spain with Huesca last year but the truth is that it took him just 10.2 minutes in just six games to record 2.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4, 8 points in the rating system in this limited role and very few minutes to write. But this year Zaragoza decided to give him the chance and he jumped at it. He did it against Real, wowed all of Spain.

In just 8 minutes, Mara scored 8 points from 3/5 2-pointers and 2/3 shots, racked up four rebounds, gave a great assist, blocked a shot, won a foul and wrote 10 points in the rating system.

Zaragoza won 94-89 against Real and this was their first win in Endesa Liga. Mara got 19 minutes against Baskonia (8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block), four against Fuenlabrada (4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block) and six against Badalona (2 points, 3 rebounds).

Mara is believed to grow even larger, perhaps even exceeding 2m.25. At the World Junior Championships he recorded 12.6 points, 5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 16.4 points in the rating system per game, he can make a respectable three-pointer, but most of the time he passes well. And this element will always make the difference.