Cal Basketball: Former Bears Star Mark McNamara Dies at Age 60

Cal center was All-Pac-10 and a first-round NBA draft choice

Mark McNamara, who set numerous scoring records at Cal before becoming a first-round pick in the NBA draft, died on Monday, according to the Cal athletic website. 

He was 60.

McNamara reportedly died of heart failure after years of heart issues.

As a senior at Cal in 1981-82, the 6-foot-11 McNamara averaged 22.0 points and 12.6 rebounds and shot 70.2 percent from the floor, leading the Pac-10 in all three categories. Only three other players have led the conference in all three categories: UCLA's Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton and Arizona State's Ike Diogu.

McNamara was named to the All-Pac-10 first team and the third-team UPI All-American squad.

McNamara, who came to Cal from Santa Clara after the 1978-79 season, wound up scoring 1,750 career points at the two schools, including 1,041 at Cal.

McNamara graduated from Cal in 1982 with a degree in Political Economics of Natural Resources, and he was the No. 22 overall pick in the 1982 draft, by the Philadelphia 76ers. He is one of 11 former Cal players to be selected in the first round, joining Chuck Hanger (1948), Darrall Imhoff (1960), Phil Chenier (1971), Kevin Johnson (1987), Lamond Murray (1994), Jason Kidd (1994), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1996), Ed Gray (1997), Ryan Anderson (2008) and Jaylen Brown (2016).

He went on to play eight seasons in the NBA, spending time with the 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Kansas City Kings, Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic. His best NBA season was his second, when he averaged 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 70 games for the Spurs.
In 2009, McNamara was named one of 30 players on Cal’s All-Century team, and he was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

Prior to his passing, McNamara was based in Haines, Alaska, where he conducted basketball camps and coached a local high school basketball team, guiding Haines High School to divisional state championships in 2008 and 2010.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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