{
  "id": 13262506,
  "title": "How this 1 recent OKC Thunder staff addition has helped Aday Mara improve",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/how-this-1-recent-okc-thunder-staff-addition-has-helped-aday-mara",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-10T00:01:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/1-recent-okc-thunder-staff-000124657.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In July, the Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Maral Javadifar from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Javadifar, who had previously served as a strength and conditioning coach for the Buccaneers for seven years, was now promoted to the NBA director of athletic performance. She immediately began her new role by traveling overseas to work with Aday Mara, a towering 7-foot-3 giant who had shown signs of concern in terms of conditioning and stamina after a disappointing Summer League performance. Over the course of the offseason, Javadifar worked closely with Mara to improve his conditioning. This included rigorous training sessions right on Spain's beautiful beaches. The results were immediate. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault praised Javadifar's arrival to the OKC staff, noting her basketball background, NFL experience, and a range of life experiences that have been a great addition to the team. Daigneault highlighted her professional demeanor, consistency, and great confidence as key qualities. Mara's improved in-game speed has been evident in his two preseason outings, where he scored a remarkable 34 points on 15-of-15 shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds. He outplayed top frontcourt players like Zion Williamson, Derrick Rose, Myles Turner, and Kyle Lowry, and did so in back-to-back games in Tulsa and OKC. Mara's performance has been nothing short of promising, with no signs of fatigue or exhaustion. While Mara's improvement is largely credited to his own efforts, the consistency of Javadifar and other staff members has undoubtedly contributed to his success.",
  "summary": "How this 1 recent Oklahoma City Thunder staff addition has helped Aday Mara improve.",
  "key_points": [
    "Maral Javadifar joined OKC Thunder as NBA director of athletic performance in July.",
    "Javadifar worked with 7'3\" Aday Mara to improve conditioning and stamina.",
    "Mara's in-game speed and performance improved significantly after Javadifar's guidance."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The addition of Maral Javadifar to the OKC Thunder staff has helped Aday Mara's conditioning and stamina improve, enabling him to display increased in-game speed and promising overall performance.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}