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Basketball and the movies: The 2004 Gheorghie Awards
Special Achievement Citation

With the All-Star weekend festivities taking place in Hollywood, NBA.com recognizes the symbiosis of basketball and filmdom in presenting the 2004 Gheorghie Awards. Named in honor of seven-foot-seven basketball and entertainment legend Gheorghe Muresan (Washington Bullets, My Giant, Snickers and ESPN ads, et al), the Gheorghies unveiled dozens of nominees in 15 categories over three days, with your votes determining the winners. The envelopes, please.

Complete Results

Chevy Chase
Fletch (1985)
The Special Achievement Citation is given for an achievement which makes an exceptional contribution to the motion picture for which it was created, but for which there is no award category.

Defined by these guidelines, the first "Gheorgies" Special Achievement Citation recognizes Chevy Chase's performance in 1985's Fletch.

While Fletch isn't about basketball (it's the story of a journalist who often goes undercover for his job, yada, yada, yada…), basketball is key to Fletch's chameleonic character.

  • He's turned his living room into a place to play ball, complete with a hoop
  • He wears Lakers jerseys, often Magic Johnson's No. 32 ("Kareem's in the wash.")
  • He has a team picture of the Lakers in his cube at work
  • When he's tired of his job, he thinks of joining the NBA: "I'm sick of this place. I'm going to try out for the Lakers. They need a power forward."

    Ah! To dream of playing in the NBA. Who doesn't? But in Fletch, Chase gives us a dream sequence "Worthy" of any in screen history.

    Naturally, it includes Chase wearing a Lakers jersey (No. 99 with his last name "Fletcher" on the back), in an Afro ("He's 6-5, but 6-9 with the Afro!" "You know this gritty kid from the streets of Harlem really creates excitement.") and taking a pass from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (a multiple "Gheorghie" nominee) himself.

    "Well, Fletch has been great. He's super-strong, really clogs the middle for us, boxes out, gets the bounds...."

    Despite Abdul-Jabbar's praise, the late Lakers legend Chick Hearn and his partner Stu Lantz openly wonder if Fletch is really worth $4 million a season.

    And if you look closely when Fletch is dribbling near midcourt, you can actually see where the hastily constructed (and scaled down) court cuts off near the center-jump circle.

    So, to you Chevy Chase, for making your hoop dreams come true in Fletch, we present you with the first-ever Special Achievement Citation Gheorghie.

    Congratulations, Mr. Chase.