- Published in The Athletes
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Moses Guthrie
This time the star of the basketball film cliché of “selfish player learns the value of team work” was actually played one of the great basketball players of all time: “Dr. J” Julius Erving. Incidentally, that is NOT what made this a cult classic, as Erving’s acting, while significantly better than Shaquille O’Neal in Kazaam (which is not exactly a difficult thing to do) was still in the Fred Dryer of Hunter fame (remember that show) school of monotones and expressionless. Rather it was the fact that this movie was given a disco soundtrack, had a complete 70’s fashion and feel and was released two months BEFORE the 1970’s ended.
1980 brought an almost instant change in fashion and music. Disco died, bell bottoms left, and less than a year after it appeared in the theatres, “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” was a film that looked like it was already from another era. If you haven’t seen the film, we will sum it up with the following five points.
1. The Pittsburgh Pythons stink.
2. The Pythons ball boy comes up with an idea that if everyone is under the same astrological sign, they will play in harmony.
3. The team is now made up of misfit players (and one star, Moses Guthrie who is played by Dr. J.) all under the same sign, Pisces.
4. The team is now renamed the Pisces and they win games.
5. Disco is played in the whole music.
Got it? It was a foolish premise for a film, though there have been NBA General Managers who have stocked their rosters on worse ideas. Since Guthrie was the star of the team, he makes our ballot, and this is the ultimate test of a cult film representative making our Hall.
The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979)
Actor:
Julius Erving
Position Portrayed:
Power Forward
Played for:
Pittsburgh Pisces
Why you should vote for him:
This is about as close as you can get to a legit sports star playing a fictitious one.
Why you should not vote for him:
The lack of acting skill of Dr. J.
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