Mark McNamara , former NBA and ACB player with Caja de Ronda, Juver Murcia and Real Madrid, died at the age of 60, as reported by the University of California on Friday. The 2.11-meter center had heart disease and had been diagnosed with a rare respiratory condition in recent weeks.
Born in San José (California) in 1959, he formed the University of Santa Clara and the University of California at Berkeley and in 1982 he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was a substitute for Moses Malone -that is, he barely played- and won the 1983 NBA title. He then went through the San Antonio Spurs, the Kansas City Kings, returned to the 76ers, left for the Los Angeles Lakers, and finished his time in the league at the Orlando Magic. In no franchise he became a starter, but he always contributed work in his minutes.
In Spain he played in the Caja de Ronda de Málaga in the 1986-1987 season, when he got promotion from First B, and later in Juver Murcia and Real Madrid, where he was a temporary substitute for Ricky Brown under George Karl . His fame in Spain, in fact, did not reach him for his low contribution, if not for his participation in the movie 'The Empire Strikes Back' in the Star Wars saga. It was Chewbacca and at the same time it was not.
In reality, he only temporarily replaced the actor who gave life to the character, Peter Mayhew , who had fallen ill. His performance did not convince the director of the film, who discarded all the scenes shot by the former madridista and shot them again with the original actor. McNamara, in fact, did not even manage to appear in the credits of the film.
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