AUSTIN, Texas -- Dennis Johnson, the star NBA guard who was part of three championships and teamed with Larry Bird on one of the great postseason plays, died Thursday after collapsing at the end of his developmental team's practice. He was 52.
I know that his 'good' years were with the Suns, but I didn't know about him until he was traded to the Celtics for center Rick Robey (I'm not sure that the Suns' franchise has ever recovered, but that's a post for another day :) .)
When he played for the Celtics, he wasn't one of the 'Big Three' - Bird, McHale, Parish - but he was vital to the success of the Celtics during the '80s, and everyone knew it.
My condolences go out to his family and friends...
AZRep coverage here, their online 'guestbook' here.
On edit: I should have put this in my original post. I actually met D.J. briefly, about 6 or 7 years ago at a sports card show. He autographed a Celtics 50th Anniversary Team t-shirt for me. We talked about it for a few minutes.
At the time, he was an assistant coach for the LA Clippers (who did he tick off in a previous life to deserve that? lol), and the show was in Phoenix, so seeing the Celtics shirt was a bit of a surprise for him. I mentioned my family that is still in Massachusetts, and he spoke about his years there. It was was of the nicest autograph experiences that I've ever had.
He was definitely one of the good guys.
End edit.
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