DJ

Dennis Johnson died last night. He was 52. It's almost ironic, because I had spent a goodly portion of this week thinking about Dennis Johnson specifically, and the '86 Celtics in general. You know, the Pats are done for the year and the Red Sox won't start ramping up until next week, so my mind wanders, inevitably, to the glory days of the past in Boston sports. Also, NBATV (the newest hotness) has been showing NBA's Greatest Games from 1986 a lot lately. I forgot how truly stacked that team was. Bird, McHale, Parish, Ainge, and DJ. All 5 of them all-stars. All 5 of them (as Bill Simmons writes today in his elegy for Johnson, which you all should read, because he'll say this much better than I ever could) SHOULD be Hall of Famers. Of course, Johnson will get there, but now it will be only in memoriam for the great player he was.

Anyway, read Simmons, because he breaks this down much better, but the one thing people forget is how DJ's greatest play (of many great instinctive plays he made over his career) is completely overshadowed by a Legend and a call. Watch it below.



Remember plays like this one when the Celtics next stink out the joint against Golden State or some damn thing. In any case, thanks DJ, you provided the Celtic faithful with many, many great moments. And you will be missed.