In 2005, Mark McNamara packed his belongings and moved from his home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California to Haines.For three weeks, he lived in a tent in Chilkat State Park while searching for a house.
It was a dramatic departure from his former life. McNamara played eight seasons in the NBA, scoring 980 points and earning a championship ring with the Philadelphia 76ers. He went on to a blossoming career as a professional basketball coach before his health suffered a rapid and alarming decline.
McNamara had been prone to infections for a long time. As a child, he’d suffered from mumps, measles and chicken pox, and had contracted encephalitis twice. His health had always allowed him to play and coach. But in the 1990s McNamara became plagued by fatigue and prone to respiratory illness.
His decline in health was so severe that in 1996 he suffered three bouts of pneumonia. He had no idea why.
During a handful of trips to Alaska in the 1980s, McNamara had become attached to the state’s natural beauty and vast wilderness. Faced with his deteriorating condition and unsure of how much longer he would live, he decided to pull up stakes and move north.
“I used to think I could die anytime,” McNamara said. “In 2004, I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to move up before my time runs out on me.’”
McNamara is hard to miss, especially in a small town. At 6’11”, the 59-year-old former Philadelphia 76er is a towering, deep-voiced, white-haired figure. But despite his imposing stature, he possesses an affable enthusiasm and an easy laugh. It’s easy to see why he’s become a fixture of the Haines community.
“I got friends in all the different groups here,” he said. “I got friends that are snowboarders, friends that are fishermen, friends that are environmentalists, friends that are all of the above.”
But being a fixture in the community was not part of the original plan. When he first moved here, McNamara said he picked Haines after making a “matrix” of small Alaska towns. The area had everything he wanted: mountains, ocean and, most importantly, wilderness. As for the community of Haines itself, McNamara had no plans to be part of it.
“I had no desire to get involved with the town,” he said.
But that would soon change. Living in a tent in the state park, McNamara had no running water, and after three weeks of camping he needed a shower. The search for bathing facilities brought him into Haines, where he spotted a high school kid walking to the gym with a basketball under his arm.
“I’ve been around,” McNamara said. “A kid with a basketball in the summer means there’s an open gym. An open gym means there’s a shower.”
McNamara was surprised to find the gym packed with youths playing basketball. One of those kids was Will Egolf, home for the summer from high school in Juneau.
Egolf remembers their first encounter vividly.
“All of a sudden this massive man came in with high shorts and old-school basketball shoes,” Egolf said. “He was just a huge presence.”
After watching a few games, McNamara joined in, playing against Egolf’s team. It was a turning point for the high schooler’s basketball career.
“I hadn’t really played against anyone taller than me,” said Egolf, who is 6’9”. “I had very high expectations for my performance.”
Those expectations did not last.
“He absolutely just kicked my ass,” Egolf said. “I was just like, ‘Whoa, who is this guy?’”
Though Egolf was “raw” and lacking “fundamentals,” McNamara said, he had seen potential in the high school athlete. McNamara became Egolf’s mentor, providing guidance and coaching. Egolf described his coaching style as “honesty and tough love.”
McNamara’s long resume included coaching semi-professional basketball in the U.S. and Europe, as well as working as a scout. The Lakers and the Magic had expressed interest in taking him on as a coach, he said. He was once a mentor to Shaquille O’Neal.
Though McNamara was only able to play and coach occasionally, because of his fluctuating health, his decades of experience and eye for strengths and weaknesses made him a skilled instructor.
“He really put me in my place,” Egolf said.
After some pleading from the community, McNamara became an assistant coach for the Haines High School basketball team. In 2008 and 2010, he helped guide the Glacier Bears to their first and second Division 3A state championships.
Steve Fossman, Haines High School basketball coach and a friend of McNamara, said the former power forward and center doesn’t deserve all the credit for the Glacier Bears’ victories.
“He helped out as kind of like an advisor,” Fossman said.
But Fossman said the combination of McNamara’s coaching experience and the team’s cohesion and dedication helped capture championships. The Glacier Bears were so dedicated, Fossman said, “they’d pick a lock if they had to get in and play.”
“Then you have a guy like Mark come in,” Fossman said. “You have to respect the knowledge he has.”
By 2012, despite his initial reluctance, McNamara had become a prominent figure in the community. He accepted an invitation to speak at the high school’s graduation ceremony.
“I got involved and found out that I loved it,” McNamara said.
In a karmic twist, the town of Haines seemed to repay him for his kindness. After a lifetime of health concerns with no discernable causes, a Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium doctor correctly diagnosed McNamara’s condition as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a rare genetic condition that weakens sufferers’ immune systems.
“I spent half my money down south trying to figure (it) out,” McNamara laughed. “The Stanford (University) doctors I went to said, ‘We don’t know what’s wrong with you.’”
Now, McNamara leads a largely unremarkable life. Unlike many retired pro athletes, he seems to have made a complete transition out of a high-paying, celebrity-tinged career. However, in November, he plans to travel to California for his induction into the University of California at Berkeley Athletic Hall of Fame.
His health still isn’t perfect. But, with treatment, things have become manageable. Every day he goes on a hike – “the best part of the day” – and occasionally steps in to help coach the Glacier Bears. He also spends lots of time with friends.
“(Everyone) in town is comfortable to walk up and talk to Mark,” Fossman said. “He’s that guy that you just see on the street, and you want to cross the street and go over and B.S.”
He’s also the founder of a film company, Twin Lions Productions, which produces short videos with environmental and educational themes. With his films, McNamara hopes to spread awareness of ecological and conservation issues. Ultimately, he wants to preserve the wilderness that brought him to Alaska in the first place.
“I moved to Haines because it’s wild,” McNamara said. “The town turned out to be a huge bonus.”