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Dennis Johnson

Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and the Boston Celtics and coach of the Austin Toros of the National Basketball Association Development League. He is an alumnus of Dominguez High School, Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine University.

A prototypical latebloomer, the 6'4" Johnson overcame early struggles and had a successful NBA player career. Playing the roles of shooting guard in his first years before becoming a point guard with the Celtics, he won three NBA championships, winning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in the 1979 NBA Finals, was voted into five All-Star Teams, in one All-NBA First and one Second Team, and into nine straight All-Defensive First and Second Teams. Apart from his reputation as a defensive stopper, Johnson was known as a clutch player who made several decisive plays in NBA Finals history.

For his feats, the Celtics franchise has retired Johnson's number-3 jersey, which hangs from the rafters of the TD Banknorth Garden. Despite his performances, Johnson was denied induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and is therefore considered by several sports journalists as one of the most underrated players of all time.

Early years

Dennis Wayne Johnson was born in a big family, being the eighth of sixteen children of a social worker and a bricklayer who lived in Compton, California. Originally a big baseball fan and a Little Leaguer, Johnson Jr. learned basketball from his father, but seemed to neither have the size nor the talent to keep up with his peers: as a teenager at Dominguez High School, Johnson Jr. measured just 5'9" and only played "a minute or two each game". After high school, he took on several odd jobs, among them a $2.75-per-hour job as a forklift driver, and played with his brothers in summer league games only after work. In this time, Johnson experienced a growth spurt and grew to a height of 6'3", and developed legs which nba.com later described as "rocket launcher legs" which enabled him jump high to grab rebounds against taller opponents.

Jim White, the coach at Los Angeles Harbor College, watched Johnson playing street basketball, discovered he excelled in defense and asked him to enroll. Johnson gave up his odd jobs and blossomed into a promising young guard, averaging 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game and leading Harbor to a college junior state title. However, the young guard also showed a lack of discipline, often clashing with White and being thrown out of the team three times in two years. This was a trait which would follow him through the next years of his career.

At the end of his junior college career, only two universities offered Johnson scholarships, namely Azusa Pacific and Pepperdine University. Johnson chose the latter, and in his only year in college, he averaged 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, and developed a reputation for tough defense. After that year, Johnson made himself eligible for the 1976 NBA Draft, but was skeptical whether any team would take him. In addition, as Johnson was known as a troublemaker, several universities were wary to take a player with character issues.

Professional career

Seattle SuperSonics (1976-80)

In the second round of that draft, the Seattle SuperSonics took Johnson with the 29th pick and was given a four-year contract which started with a salary of $45,000 in year one and ended with $90,000 in the last year. In his rookie year, the 1976-77 NBA season, the now 6'4" tall guard played backup to the experienced Sonics backcourt tandem of Slick Watts and Fred Brown and averaged 9.2 points and 1.5 assists per game. However, the Sonics finished with a mediocre 40-42 record and missed the 1977 NBA Playoffs, causing head coach Bill Russell to resign. In the following 1977-78 NBA season, his replacement Bob Hopkins lost 17 of the first 22 games, and after this disastrous start, he was replaced by Hall-of-Fame coach Lenny Wilkens, who gave Johnson a starting spot and paired him with Gus Williams. Johnson thrived in this new role, improving his averages to 12.7 points and 2.8 assists per game. Remarkable about this period was the fact that Johnson played shooting guard and was then known for his aggressive slam dunking, in contrast to the more cerebral roles he played later in his career. It was at this time that Johnson's nickname "DJ" was coined by play-by-play announcer Bob Blackburn, to help distinguish him from fellow starter John Johnson (whom Blackburn referred to as "JJ").

After an impressive finish, the Sonics ended the regular season with a 47-35 record and entered the 1978 NBA Playoffs. After eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers, the defending champions Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets, they almost defeated the Washington Bullets by taking a 3-2 lead in the 1978 NBA Finals. In a 93-92 Game 3 victory, Johnson blocked seven shots - the most blocks in NBA Finals history for a visiting player. However, the Sonics lost in seven games, partly due to Johnson's horrible Game 7 scoring drought, where the sophomore guard missed all of his 14 field goal attempts. Johnson later acknowledged he simply "choked", vowed never to repeat this again and thus credited this game as an important lesson to become a better player.

The next year, Johnson and the Sonics got their revenge. In the 1978-79 NBA season, Johnson established himself as one of the best guards in the league, averaging 15.9 points and 3.5 assists per game, being elected in the All-Defensive First Team and into his first of five All-Star games. Winning the Pacific Division with a strong 52-30 record, the Sonics powered their way into the 1979 NBA Finals where they met the Bullets again. After losing Game 1, the Sonics won the next four matches and took the finals series, helped by an inspired Johnson, who averaged almost 23 points along with six rebounds and assists per game. He scored 32 points in an Game 4 overtime victory, and was finally named NBA Finals MVP.

However, the tide turned against Johnson in the following season. Despite another strong season in which he averaged 19.0 points and 4.1 assists, was voted an All-Star and a member of the All-Defensive First Team again and was elected into the All-NBA Second Team for the first time, the Sonics lost in the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers of Hall-of-Famers Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Due to the abundance of talent on the losing Sonics team, Johnson later called this loss one of the worst disappointments of his professional career. In addition, coach Wilkens grew tired of his guard, who often clashed with him and was perceived as a growing liability for the team. As a consequence, Johnson was then traded to the Phoenix Suns for Paul Westphal and draft picks. As a testament to Johnson's importance for the team, the Sonics finished 22 games worse in the next season despite the addition of Westphal.

Phoenix Suns (1980-83)

In Phoenix, Johnson further established himself as a quality player. In his three years as a Sun, Johnson averaged 14-20 points a game and played smothering defense, becoming a two-time All-Star, was voted into three consecutive All-Defense First Teams and made his only All-NBA First Team appearance. In this period, Johnson played shooting guard and became the main scorer of his teams as opposed to being second or third option as a Sonic.

In his stint, the Suns had two fairly successful years, reaching the Western Conference Semifinals twice before disappointingly bowing out in the first round in Johnson's last year. This also reflected Johnson's deteriorating situation in Phoenix. Like in Seattle, he often clashed with coach John MacLeod, and was finally traded by general manager Jerry Colangelo to the Boston Celtics for Rick Robey and draft picks. However, much like in Seattle after DJ's departure, the Suns finished 12 games worse in the next season despite the addition of Robey.

Boston Celtics (1983-90)

Prior to the 1983-84 NBA season, the Celtics had repeatedly lost in the previous NBA Playoffs campaigns to the Philadelphia 76ers, mainly because physical Sixers guard Andrew Toney routinely caused problems for their defensively fragile backcourt. Thus, Celtics general manager Red Auerbach added the perennial All-Defense Team member Johnson to his squad. Johnson joined a squad led by Hall-of-Fame forward Larry Bird, who played in the frontcourt with two fellow Hall-of-Famers, center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale, a combination often called the best frontcourt of all time by the NBA. Johnson described it as a "dream come true" and enjoyed the tutelage of highly successful Celtics general manager Auerbach, who was "living history" according to Johnson.

With the Celtics, Johnson changed his playing style for the third time in his career: after being known as a slam dunking shooting guard with the Sonics, and an all-around scorer with the Suns, he now established himself as a point guard who defined more by playmaking than scoring. In his first year as a Celtic, he averaged 13.2 points and 4.2 assists and was elected into the All-Defensive Second Team. The Celtics reached the 1984 NBA Finals, where they met the Los Angeles Lakers, their intense rivals since the 1960s. The Celtics won 4-3, and Johnson took credit for playing smothering defense on Hall-of-Fame Lakers playmaker Magic Johnson, limiting him to a sub-average 17 points in the last four games, and being at least partly responsible for several of the Laker point guard's game-deciding errors in Games 2, 4 and 7. As a result, Magic Johnson was from that moment on taunted as "Tragic Johnson" whenever Lakers and Celtics played against each other.

In the following 1984-85 NBA season, Johnson continued playing smothering defense, earning his next All-Defensive Second Team call-up while averaging 16.9 points and 7.3 assists per game. The Celtics went into the 1985 NBA Finals, and met the Lakers again. Johnson's big moment came in Game 4: when the score was tied 105-105, teammate Larry Bird had the ball in the last seconds. Being double-teamed by Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, Bird passed out to the open Johnson, and the guard sank a buzzer beater which won the game. However, the Lakers took their revenge this time, winning the series in six games, powered by venerable 38-year old Finals MVP Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson described this loss as one of the toughest ever, because the Celtics were "close [to winning the series]" but "could not get the job done".

In 1986, the Celtics came back. Helped by the performance of Johnson, who made the All-Defense Second Team again while scoring 17.8 points and 6.7 assists per game, the Celtics reached the 1986 NBA Finals against the up-and-coming Houston Rockets, led by the "Twin Towers" of centers Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon. Led by Finals MVP Larry Bird, the Celtics beat the Rockets 4-2, and Johnson won his third title.

The Celtics were unable to repeat their title in 1987 despite several dramatic playoff victories. Johnson played strong defense again, earning yet another All-Defensive Second Team call-up, and the Celtics embarked on a nail-biting playoff campaign.

In the 1987 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Celtics split the first six games against the Milwaukee Bucks 3-3. In the deciding Game 7, which the Celtics won, Johnson had a spectacular play with 1:30 left in the game: a Celtics ball threatened to fly out of bounds, but Johnson dived for it, whipped it backwards in mid-air against Bucks center Jack Sikma, and the ball ricocheted against Sikma before going out of bounds. The Celtics kept the ball and prevented a crucial turnover.
In the next round, the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics faced the Detroit Pistons. It was described as a grudge match between two intense rivals, featuring a great level of personal animosity, sharp rhetoric and several physical altercations. The center of this feud was Pistons pivot Bill Laimbeer, who got into brawls with Celtics players Bird and Parish. In Game 5 of this series, Johnson was involved in a crucial play: down by one point, Larry Bird stole an inbounds pass by Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas with six seconds left and passed it to a sprinting Johnson, who converted a difficult layup as time expired. This play caused Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most to shout out one of his most famous quotes: “Now there's a steal by Bird! Underneath to DJ who lays it in!!...Right at one second left! What a play by Bird!! Bird stole the inbounding pass, laid it up to DJ, and DJ laid it up and in, and Boston has a one-point lead with one second left! Oh, my, this place is going crazy!!!” According to Johnson, this play is his personal favorite of all-time.
Game 6 and Game 7 also featured a feud, this time between Pistons forward Dennis Rodman and Johnson. In Game 6, which the Pistons won, Rodman taunted Johnson in the closing seconds by waving his right hand over his head. When the Celtics took Game 7, Johnson went back at Rodman in the last moments of the game and mimicked his taunting gesture.

In the 1987 NBA Finals however, the Celtics succumbed to their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, with 2-4 because Lakers playmaker and Finals MVP Magic Johnson was unstoppable.

In the next 1987-88 NBA season, the veteran Johnson averaged 12.6 points and 7.8 assists, but in the 1988 NBA Playoffs, the aging Celtics were unable to beat the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The next two seasons were disappointing for the aging Celtics. In the 1988-89 NBA season, Johnson (who statistically declined to 10.0 points and 6.6 assists per game) and his team made the 1989 NBA Playoffs on a meagre 42-40 record, but immediately were eliminated in the first round. The following 1989-90 NBA season was Johnson's last. The now 35 year old playmaker relinquished his starting point guard role to younger John Bagley, but when Bagley dislocated his shoulder, Johnson played "rejuvenated" and was lovingly called "our glue man" by coach Jimmy Rodgers. In his last season, Johnson started in 65 of his 75 games, averaged 7.1 points and 6.5 assists, but the aging Celtics failed to survive the first round of the 1990 NBA Playoffs.

Johnson retired prior to the 1990-91 NBA season. On his retirement ceremony, his perennial Los Angeles Lakers opponent Magic Johnson telegraphed him and lauded him as "the greatest backcourt defender of all time". In addition, Celtics colleague and triple NBA Most Valuable Player award winner Larry Bird called Johnson the best teammate he ever had.

Post-player career

After retiring as a player, Johnson at first became scout for the Celtics in 1993. In the same year, Johnson was made assistant coach of the Boston Celtics, a position he hed until 1997. After spending several years outside the limelight, he returned as a coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003, coached the last 24 games after the departure of Alvin Gentry and was then scout for the Portland Trail Blazers. In 2004, Johnson was named head coach of the NBADL Florida Flames before becoming coach of the NBADL Austin Toros in 2005, a position he held until his death two years later.

Legacy

In 1,100 games, Johnson scored 15,535 points, grabbed 4,249 rebounds and gave 5,499 assists, translating to career averages of 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Known as a defensive stalwart, he was elected into nine straight All-Defensive First and Second Teams, and is acknowledged by the NBA as a "money player" who was clutch in decisive moments, such as playing smothering defense on Magic Johnson in the 1984 NBA Finals, converting a last-second layup in Game 4 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals after a Larry Bird steal, and most importantly winning the 1979 NBA Finals MVP award.

Furthermore, Johnson is lauded by the NBA as a versatile all-around weapon who played with "contagious competitiveness" and was known for his durability: in 14 NBA seasons, he played in 1,100 of a possible 1,148 games and participated in 180 playoff games, the latter figure the 11th highest number of all time. At his retirement, Johnson was only the 11th NBA player to amass more than 15,000 points and 5,000 assists.

On December 13, 1991, the Celtics franchise retired his number-3 jersey. Johnson described the experience as "special feeling" and said he will always be a Boston Celtic. However, Johnson did not live to see an induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, a fact that has been a considerable point of debate with sports journalists. Bill Simmons of ESPN called his Hall of Fame snub an "ongoing injustice", stating that according to him, Joe Dumars – Hall of Famer known for strong defense rather than spectacular scoring, like Johnson – was no better [a basketball player] than him. Also colleague Ken Shouler called Johnson "one of the first guys I'd give a Hall [of Fame] pass". Contemporary Boston Celtics Hall-of-fame forward Larry Bird in any case gave Johnson ultimate praise, calling him the best teammate he ever had in his biography Drive.

On October 26, 2007, a learning center was dedicated in Johnson's name in the Central Branch of the YMCA of Greater Boston. The center was made possible by the donations and effort of Larry Bird and M.L. Carr. Johnson's family, Danny Ainge, Carr, and members of YMCA and local community were present for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Personal life

Dennis Johnson was married to Donna, his wife of 31 years, and had three children named Dwayne, Denise and Daniel. During his life, Johnson was also known for his unusual outward appearance: despite being African-American, he had freckles and reddish hair. Known as a troublemaker early in his professional career, On October 21, 1997 he was arrested and later charged with aggravated assault for a domestic incident in which he allegedly held a knife to his wife's throat and threatened his children, but the marriage survived this incident.

Death

On February 22, 2007, at the Austin Convention Center, Johnson had a heart attack and collapsed at the end of the Toros' practice. After being rushed to a nearby hospital, he could not be revived and was later pronounced dead. Johnson was survived by his wife and his three children. Johnson's death was met with shock throughout the NBA. Among others, contemporary Celtics colleague Danny Ainge called him one of "the most underrated players of all time […] and one of the greatest Celtics acquisitions", and one-time rival Bill Laimbeer called him "a great player on a great ballclub".