He was the guy who would miss 11 straight shots, then come down the court with everything on the line and drill the game-winner without blinking.
That's how I will remember Dennis Johnson, the freckle-faced bulldog who joined the Celtics in 1983 and was a pivotal member of the 1984 and '86 championship teams. DJ's role was often diminished amid the long shadows of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, yet he was the one Bird singled out as "the best teammate I've ever played with."
Johnson collapsed and died yesterday in Austin, Texas, where he was the coach of the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. He was 52 years old, too young to have his life cut so terribly short.
"What a sad, sad day," said McHale. "I tell you, this one really hits you. I was just talking to a friend who had just talked with DJ, and he was telling me how excited DJ was about his team. I guess his guys had started out losing eight in a row, or something like that, but lately they had been winning, and no one was happier about that than him.
"I can't believe this has happened. First Reggie [Lewis] and now him. We're too young to be losing teammates like this."
DJ was memorable on a number of fronts, but mostly for his ability to rise to the occasion when the games mattered most.
"That's when you really appreciated him," offered Bird. "Not during a regular-season game in Cleveland in December."
Johnson's career averages of 14.1 points and five assists per game don't begin to explain his value. He was an unorthodox point guard, a below-average shooter who was a tenacious defender during critical moments, who used his strength, moxie, and high basketball IQ to make exactly the right pass at exactly the right moment, or drill the big jumper when his team needed it.
"I remember that time in the '85 Finals against the Lakers in [Game 4]," said Bird. "I got the ball on the right side at the top of the key, and they sent two guys running right at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw DJ was open and I said, 'Thank God.' I knew he'd hit it, and of course he did."
One of Johnson's more memorable hoops was during the 1987 Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, when Bird intercepted Isiah Thomas's inbounds pass and relayed it to a streaking Johnson.
"He was stretched out on that play," Bird recalled. "He was using his right hand going in on the left side of the basket. But it never occurred to me he'd miss it. Not DJ. He told me once, 'I'm a horrible shooter. But give me the ball down the stretch and I'll hit it every time.' "
