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Sandro Mamukelashvili scored a season-high 23 points and made five three-pointers as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks on November 9, 2026. The performance added another notable moment to a basketball journey that has crossed several countries. Behind that journey are his parents, Marianna Oakley and Zurab Mamukelashvili, whose support has remained a recurring part of his story.
His parents’ names are confirmed in Seton Hall University’s official basketball biography. The same record identifies two older brothers, David and George. Those details provide a reliable starting point for a family profile, rather than relying on assumptions drawn from his birthplace or surname.
Mamukelashvili was born in New York but grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia. His development later took him to Italy, Florida and New Jersey before the NBA. Moving between those settings meant that his family could not always watch him play in person.
So, who are Sandro Mamukelashvili’s parents? Here is what has been documented about Marianna and Zurab, their sons and the family experiences that have stayed with the basketball player.
Who are Marianna Oakley and Zurab Mamukelashvili?
Marianna Oakley is Sandro’s mother, and Zurab Mamukelashvili is his father. Seton Hall’s biography names them directly, alongside his older brothers. His hometown is listed as Tbilisi, connecting his American birth with the Georgian city where he spent his childhood.
His father also played basketball. In a later interview about a visit to a children’s hospital, Sandro described Zurab as a tall former player whom he had regarded as almost indestructible when he was young. That childhood impression changed when his father became seriously ill.
Zurab is a Hodgkin lymphoma survivor. Sandro has publicly discussed how frightening that period was for the family. His mother accompanied Zurab to Turkey for chemotherapy, while Sandro sometimes stayed with his father’s sister. The experience helps explain why supporting people facing illness became personally meaningful to him.
Those details come from the player’s own publicly reported recollections. They should not be expanded into an unverified current medical account of either parent. The established story concerns his father’s experience and the effect it had on Sandro as a child.
The family’s cultural background also extends beyond sport. Sandro has spoken of relatives with musical connections, including his aunt, pianist Eteri Andjaparidze. His upbringing therefore brought together athletic interests and a wider family environment rather than a household defined by a single career.
How did his parents and brothers support his move into basketball?
Sandro’s older brothers were part of his early sporting life. Seton Hall records that David played soccer and tennis at Bard College. Sandro’s own route eventually centered on basketball, with his childhood in Georgia laying the foundation for a career that later became international.
His development included time in Italy with Angelico Biella. He subsequently attended Montverde Academy in Florida, where he played under coach Kevin Boyle, before joining Seton Hall. Each move represented a new environment and another period away from home.
The family’s role becomes especially clear in accounts of visits to his college games. For players whose relatives live nearby, support in the arena can be routine. For Mamukelashvili, having parents travel from Georgia gave certain games a significance beyond the score.
In March 2020, he spoke about his mother, father, a brother and two aunts coming to watch the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. His excitement reflected the chance to share a major stage with people who had followed much of his progress from far away.
He later became the Big East Player of the Year in 2021 and entered the NBA through that year’s draft. Those professional milestones followed years of school and club basketball, rather than beginning with his first NBA appearance. His family’s involvement can be traced throughout that longer development.
Why was Zurab Mamukelashvili’s visit to Seton Hall especially memorable?
A February 19, 2020, game against Butler brought several parts of Sandro’s story together. He scored the late basket that gave Seton Hall a 74-72 victory, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds. His father was in the arena to see it.
The visit was unusual enough to become part of the reporting. It was only the second time Zurab had watched his son play college basketball in person. The first had come when Sandro was a freshman with a much smaller role on the team.
The game also coincided with Seton Hall’s cancer-awareness night. With Zurab’s experience as a survivor, the occasion carried particular personal meaning. After the finish and an on-court interview, Sandro embraced his father, whom he had not seen since the previous May.
That moment offers a specific example of what family support meant in practice: a parent making a long journey and a son getting to share a breakthrough performance with him. It remains a meaningful part of Mamukelashvili’s background as his NBA career continues to produce new highlights.
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