Dennis Johnson

[Mike-Dub]

DJ I was not old enough to watch you play in person, unfortunately, but from everything I've heard and all the clips and game film I have seen of you, you are truly a GREAT CELTIC.  This day was long overdue you should have been a first ballot HOF.  

Anyways congrats and wish you were here!

You represent the Celtics proud and everything that is good about basketball.

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/hall_of_fame/2010/08/13/hof_2010_dennis_johnson.nba/

Brought a tear to my eye watching this profile video of DJ.

[Andy Jick]

I was privileged enough to watch him as a teenager...  The thing most amazing about DJ is that he could be 0-10 entering the 4th quarter, yet he was THE guy you WANTED taking that key shot in the waning moments because he was so clutch.

When one of the greatest to ever play the game calls you the greatest teammate he ever had, that says everything you need to know...

[oldmanspeaks]

I wrote this another forum. Andy Dick was correct about Johnson's transformation late in the 4th. He played very good defense throughout the game but his offense changed dramatically. I used to cringe when he shot the ball early because he simply sucked (there is no polite way to say it). However a lot of that was because he was so focused on moving the ball. Remember Ainge was one of the best shots in history and extremely fast. However he couldn't create his own shot if his life depended upon it. And McHale was devastating if you could get him the ball one on one. The same was true of the short jumper of Parish. Bird of course was always Bird. By late in the fourth quarter though, the defense was focused on the other shooters and Dennis looked for his own offense and it was incredible how good he suddenly got. He would take it to the hole, hit the open medium range jumper and simply cause all kinds of offensive things to happen. Ainge was a much better shooter but you wanted the ball in Johnson's hands (or Birds) at the end of the game. Basically Johnson didn't do dumb things with the game on the line.

[JBcat]

DJ and Bird had amazing chemistry.   I love this play right here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-42c470-MjM

[GreenFaith1819]

That was a brilliant play by DJ, JBcat - thanks for post!

DJ was a special player. In today's NBA, most SG's just don't have that savvy mind for basketball like DJ did. He was not the most athletic, fastest, or quickest player.

My memory of seeing him play? I was in my mid-teens in the mid 80's, and from what I saw of DJ and how he meshed with Boston was unique, to say the least. He could not light it up like Ray or some guards of today, but he always seemed to make the right plays when they counted. I always felt so comfortable when I saw the ball in his hands. He was always a very capable defender.

God Bless you and your family, DJ and thanks for the memories!

[ACF]

I was so happy to finally see DJ go into the Hall but very sad he's not with us anymore.

RIP, Dennis.

[dysgenic]

One of the most underrated players I ever saw.  Great defensive player, very poised.  Balls of steel.  I loved watching him play.  Clutch, under control, and tough.

[GreenFaith1819]

One of the most underrated players I ever saw.  Great defensive player, very poised.  Balls of steel.  I loved watching him play.  Clutch, under control, and tough.

Yep....always in the right place at the right time, too. I bet Bird thought so right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNyw8jUo1cA

[Franzlchau]

When Dennis Johnson and Bird played together, they rock the game. No one can dare to beat them and the tact of defensing is incredible.

[Celtics4ever]

DJ won a ring without Larry too. He was a finals MVP and won a ring in Seattle in 79 too.   

RIP Dennis Wanye Johnson.

[dysgenic]

I keep thinking about that other thread about combining this years team with '86 Celtics.  It seemed like most everybody had Rondo starting ahead of DJ.  The more I think about it, I think I would go with DJ over Rondo.  It's very close, though.

[xmuscularghandix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX4KJEPUgIw

Video i made about a year and a half ago.

RIP Dennis Johnson.

[skibothy]

i havent seen it posted yet, but basketball jesus larry said DJ was the greatest player he ever played with......... thats saying something. DJ belonged in hof 15 years ago. DJ was one of the best that ever played

[Army_of_One_Nation]

One of the greatest Auerbach trades ever: Rick Robey for DJ. I wanted to see him play 20 years and so I could see him take 20 dribbles before shooting his free throws. Awesome player who played the 1 or 2 and was as great offensively as he was defensively.

[butterbeanlove]

Here is the thing about DJ. There was NEVER a better player when you were on the road in a hysterical environment and the refs got caught up in that and were giving the home team all of the breaks.

NOBODY was better than DJ at dipping his shoulder and drawing the foul... and then standing there at the foul line and waiting for the crowd to shut up and then calmly draining the free throws.

It was as good as a time-out.