#3 Dennis Johnson, “DJ,” Guard, 1983-1990
Born in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1954 and raised in Compton, California, Dennis Johnson attended LA Harbor College from 1972 to ‘75 and Pepperdine University in Los Angeles County in ‘75-76.
In 1976, Johnson was drafted 29th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. Seattle’s head coach during his rookie year was Celtics great Bill Russell. The Sonics lost in the Finals to Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and the Washington Bullets in 1978. He won his first NBA Championship in a re-match with the Bullets in 1979 and was named Finals MVP, averaging 22.6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.2 blocks in the five game series. He was especially dominant in the Sonics’ game four win with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks on 12 of 23 shooting. Seattle’s head coach during his rookie year was Celtics great Bill Russell. following the 1979-80 season, Johnson was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he played until 1983.
Johnson was traded to the Celtics after the ‘82-83 season. He played there with greats like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. It was a hell of a career move for DJ, and he and Bird greatly complimented each other’s games He won a Championship against the Los Angles Lakers in his first year in Boston. The Celtics won it all again in ‘86 against the Houston Rockets with quite possibly their best team ever. Along with DJ, Bird, McHale and Parish, they also featured guard Danny Ainge, Hall of Fame center Bill Walton as their sixth man and Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting coming off the bench. They made the finals in 1985 and ‘87, but lost to the Lakers both times. The C’s slowly declined after ’86, in large part due to the death of Boston’s #2 overall pick in the 1986 draft, Maryland’s star forward Len Bias. DJ was involved in one of the Celtics’ most famous plays of the ‘80s if not ever in game five of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals. The C’s were down by one point with five seconds left in the game when Larry Bird stole Isiah Thomas’ inbounds pass before firing a pass to Dennis who’d rushed towards the basket for a layup. His bucket put the Celtics up by one point and won the game.
Johnson made All-NBA first team in 1981 and Second Team in 1980. Always an excellent defender, he made All-Defensive First Team six times; every year from 1979 to ‘83 as well as ‘87, and All-Defensive Second Team every year from 1984 to ‘86. Johnson was a five time All-Star, including every year from 1979 to ‘82, as well as ‘85. Johnson retired following the 1989-90 season and his number “3” was retired by the Celtics in 1991.
He currently sits at eighth all time among Celtics players in both assists and steals, as well as twentieth in points. His career highs include 7.8 assists per game in 1987-88, 19.5 points per game in ‘81-82, 1.8 steals per game in ‘79-80, and shooting over 50% from the field in his rookie season of ‘76-77. He scored a career high of 39 points in a February 1981 loss to the New York Knicks while a member of the Suns. He also served as the Celtics’ assistant coach from 1993 to ‘97, and as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003.
Sadly, Dennis Johnson died of a heart attack on February 22nd, 2007, at the age of 52. He was considered by many, including former teammate Danny Ainge, to be one of the most under-rated players of all time. For Larry Bird’s part, he called DJ the best teammate he ever had. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
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