FanHouse DennisJohnson

Basketbawful turned up this lovable Reebok ad from 1987. It's got Danny Ainge and the late Dennis Johnson squaring off in a game of one-on-one. The whole thing is shot like they're not really playing, or at least can't get from one place to another like NBA players do. Like it's a basketball scene in a comedy. Also, this ad is uncomfortably lurching toward the future; there are dunks, but zero swagger and a punchline based around "footwork."

The above picture to be the most popular Dennis Johnson picture for news sites to use today in concert with Dennis Johnson obituaries. It shows Dennis Johnson as most people remember him, as a Celtic, as a champion, and as a role player on those Celtics teams. Even though DJ is front and center with the trophy, Bird still commands the attention behind him, with Brent Musberger in one hand, and a Miller Lite in the other.

I can't pretend to speak eloquently on the career of Dennis Johnson. I remember him as I see him that picture, a high-level roleplayer on this great Celtics teams, and at the time, the only black man with freckles that I had ever seen. I had freckles as a child. That was how I related to Dennis Johnson.

Most people don't remember (and I didn't until today) Dennis Johnson's previous days with the Sonics where he was more than a roleplayer ... in Seattle, he was the whole show. In 1979, he led the Sonics to the NBA championship, picking up Finals MVP honors along the way. Over a three-year stretch from '80 to '82, Johnson averaged 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.

Bob Ryan, in the below video, calls him the best player who isn't in the Hall of Fame. It's a nice little six-minute career retrospective on DJ. The audio gets a little bit out of sync at the end, but you'll get the gist. I love the play at about the 4:18 mark where Johnson gets the ball to Bird off the glass. That's the creativity of a true playmaker.

The Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Celtics legend and former Clippers coach Dennis Johnson is dead at 52.

Johnson had been coaching the Austin Toros of the NBDL. He won two titles with the Celtics in the 1980s and coached the Clippers for a handful of games in 2002.

No word on the cause of death.

UPDATE: More on DJ's career and legacy here.