Ex-Magic player was a real Wookie
The Magic have had a few movie stars on their roster over the years.
Who could forget (as much as we may try)
asa rapping genie in “Kazaam,” or his performance with future teammate
in “Blue Chips.” Even original Magic player
had a turn in “Forget Paris” with
Yet they can’t top the role one former Magic player had in one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.
got to play in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”
Longtime Magic fans — and Star Wars fans — are probably asking, “Who’s Mark McNamara?” A California native, McNamara played college ball at Santa Clara and Cal, where he led the Pacific 10 in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage. That led the Philadelphia 76ers to select the 6-foot-11 center with the 22nd pick in the 1982 NBA draft. After spending his rookie season with Sixers winning a championship, he bounced around the league with the Kings, Bucks, Lakers and Spurs before being traded to the Magic in October 1990 for center
and a first-round pick.
But it’s what McNamara did off the court in 1982 that earned him greater fame than he achieved in the NBA.
Between the end of his college career and the start of his pro career, he spent six weeks in the summer working as a stand-in for
as Chewbacca after his cousin helped him land the gig on “Return of the Jedi.”
“She was at a meeting and they were saying they couldn’t find a seven-footer who was kind of athletic and had the right color eyes and had been involved with cameras,” McNamara told Fox Sports earlier this week from his home in Alaska. “They needed someone to be a stand-in for Peter. She said, ‘Hey, my cousin is a 7-footer and he plays basketball at Cal,’ and they giggled because they thought she was kidding, because she was so little.” COMMENTARY
As a stand-in, McNamara helped filmmakers set up shots as they tested lighting and camera angles, and he also performed a few stunts as Chewbacca. Of course, that meant he wore the iconic Wookie costume.
“Chewbacca had a very distinctive walk, so they had me walking and practicing these different scenes, and it’s hot in those costumes,” McNamara told Fox Sports. “I was young so it didn’t bother me, but you would get warm quick, and days that were like 14 hours long weren’t uncommon.”
Still, McNamara said he enjoyed spending time with the cast and crew that summer, and was even offered a chance to keep his Wookie mask by the props department. But …
“I never went and got it," he said. "I was too lazy. We were shooting up at Lucas Ranch, and I was like, ‘Oh, God, I’m exhausted.’ I had to drive back to San Rafael to the main offices to pick it up, and instead I just jumped on the bridge and went back to Berkeley. I told my friends the story the other day and they’re like, ‘You’re an idiot.’ "
McNamara actually spent more time with the Star Wars cast than he did with his Magic teammates. He played in only two games for Orlando — for a total of 13 minutes — before the team waived him 16 days after he arrived, bringing an end to his NBA career.
Still, the Force will always be with Mark McNamara.
Speaking of bowl games, the Cure Bowl helped kick off the bowl season at Camping World Stadium on Saturday when Western Kentucky played Georgia State.
Two trivia items about the two teams: (1) Georgia State plays its home games in the Atlanta Braves’ former home, Turner Field. (2) Western Kentucky’s big rival is Middle Tennessee, and their rivalry game is called “100 miles of Hate.” That sort of makes the UCF-USF “War on I-4” look more like a civil conflict, right?
publisher of Husker Online, has been keeping track of the travel UCF/Nebraska coach
did last week as he juggles his Peach Bowl coaching duties with the Knights and his coaching/recruiting duties with the Cornhuskers. Here’s one small glimpse, according to Callahan:
Frost left Orlando on Tuesday at 2:23 p.m. to fly to Lincoln. He left Lincoln at 5:09 p.m. to fly to Fresno, Calif. He left Fresno at 8:47 p.m. to fly back to Lincoln. He left Lincoln at 2:09 a.m Wednesday to fly back to Orlando for a 5:33 a.m. arrival. After coaching at UCF, Frost left again for Lincoln at 5:03 p.m. then returned to Orlando on a 10:10 p.m. flight.
Two things: Does Frost ever sleep? And, is Nebraska paying Frost in frequent-flyer miles?