To me he was a highly underrated player who played great defense, was a great leader, and was an extremely clutch shooter.
2007-02-22 09:13:07 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Basketball
He was the grease on the Celtics machine of the great five of Bird, McHale, Parish, Ainge, and Johnson...the great championship teams of the 80s...The best point guard of his era...RIP, DJ...You are now with the Celtic coaching legend himself, Red Auerbach, probably enjoying a cigar...Will be interesting to see if the former Celtics will be involved in the funeral...as palbearers, etc...Obviously, they will be there...
2007-02-22 10:42:06 · answer #1 · answered by Terry C. 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
May people forget Dennis Johnson had a very successful NBA career before he joined the Celtics. You're talking about a guy who was MVP of the 1979 finals when he played for the Seattle Supersonics. Although he wasn't a flashy player, he stood out on that team.
DJ could play both guard positions which keyed the Celtics dynasty of the '80s, remember that team didn't have a true point guard but somehow that great front line got the ball in the right spots to make shots -- that wasn't by coincidence.
He played man to man defense better than most and he didn't use a lot of hand checking like most guys did back then.
R.I.P. DJ
2007-02-26 00:33:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Johnson was the type of player you had to see every day in order to appreciate him. He didn't care if he made the ESPN highlight reel or not, all he cared about was winning.
His career was of HOF quality. He was one of the 3 or 4 best defensive guards in history for 14 years, and was durable as well, missing less than 4 games/year on average, never more than 10 in any season, and usually less than 5.
He was the only player in the 80s who was able to guard Magic Johnson. And KC Jones' decision to switch Dennis over to Magic defensively in game 4 of the 84 finals, changed the entire complexion of that series, which to that point had been a runaway for the Lakers.
Re: Bird's steal - that was only half the story of that play...the other was Johnson having the presence of mind to cut to the hoop... easy to do, some people say... but in that tape, you can also see the Celtics' other guard, Jerry Sichting right there, wide open, and he just froze right up, because he didn't want the ball in that situation (down by a point, 3 seconds left). But fortunately for the Celtics, Dennis Johnson DID want the ball, and Bird, of course, knowing where everyone is on the court, found Johnson easily and Johnson converted the layup...not an easy shot actually, under the circumstances.
Dennis Johnson easily earned the respect of his peers, the other players in the NBA...they knew who could play and who couldn't, and Dennis Johnson could play the game...one of the smartest players ever, and even Bird called him "the best player I ever played with" (and Bird played with quite a few good ones).
I bought a dish in the mid 80s, and was able to watch about 70 Laker and about 70 Celtic games/year... That's when you really got to appreciate Dennis Johnson... you really can't get a sense of what he did simply by looking at his statistical line.
And man, Chick Hearn, the Lakers HOF announcer, and the greatest basketball play-by-play man ever, really loved Dennis Johnson... he wished all along that the Lakers could have gotten him instead of the Celtics.
RIP, DJ!
2007-02-22 13:29:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
''Hopper felt over-indulgence was a requirement for great artists. He once claimed he snorted lines of cocaine "as long as your arm every five minutes, just so I could carry on drinking ... gallons" of alcohol'' ''He was often gripped by paranoid delusions. In 1982, while filming "Jungle Warriors" in Mexico, he ran naked into the jungle, convinced World War Three had started. He was put on a plane home but jumped out onto the wing as it was about to take off, fearful that the plane was on fire. Upon his return, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for three months'' The man was a legend. It's a shame he made so many bad movie choices,turning down Reservoir Dogs and starring in Super Mario Brothers for instance. His great roles will outshine the poorer ones in my mind. Easy Rider is in my top ten movie list. .
2016-05-23 23:57:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No Doubt, DJ was a great player. Very unselfish and lead his Celtics team well. One of the most underrated PGs.
2007-02-22 10:45:19 · answer #5 · answered by jasonpickles 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I am sad too. He was much too young. He was the perfect point guard for the big 3 (Bird, Parrish, McHale). He was clutch from the line (always around 90%). He will be missed.
2007-02-22 09:35:18 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes this is very sad. He was only 52 years old. And i thought he was an excellent player on the Celtics
2007-02-22 09:17:15 · answer #7 · answered by jmac 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For those who don't know who Dennis Johnson was, do yourself a favor and look learn about the history of thegame of basketball. As for the racist, you're not upsetting anyone, we know you're just a scared and uneducated moron.
2007-02-22 09:38:41 · answer #8 · answered by skimdaddy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Bummer. I was never a Celtics fan, but that guy was a great PG.
2007-02-22 09:17:26 · answer #9 · answered by somathus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im sadd 2. He was an exellenttt PG.
2007-02-22 09:18:42 · answer #10 · answered by Tasfiq U 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋