NBA Great Dennis Johnson dies ....

[H2O Man]

By JIM VERTUNO, AP Sports Writer
February 22, 2007

AP - Feb 22, 5:23 pm ES


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Dennis Johnson, the star NBA guard who was part of three championship teams and combined with Larry Bird in one of the great postseason plays, died Thursday after collapsing at the end of practice while coaching a developmental team. He was 52.

Johnson, coach of the Austin Toros, was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at Austin Convention Center, said Warren Hassinger, spokesman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate him for 23 minutes before he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, Hassinger added. Mayra Freeman, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, said there will be autopsy. .... (more at yahoo)



Sad news. He was a heck of an athlete, and seemed like a really decent human being.

[Old and In the Way]

1. Sigh.....

Dj was my age...man, he really made the Celtics the team they were. He was the perfect compliment to Bird, Parrish, McHale, and Maxwell. I can't tell you how many Celtics games I watched in the 80's. Best wishes to his family. A real class act....

[H2O Man]

2. I've always been

a NY Knick fan. But I always admired the Celtics, and in the 1980s, they were just unreal. He was one of the reasons they were fun to watch .... like you said, a real class act.

[Old and In the Way]

4. Those were the days my friend......

Actually, I really looked forward to the Celtics-Knicks games...Walt Frazier, Willis Reed Dave DeB, Bill Bradley....and my favorite, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe. I just loved to watch that guy juke and jive his way to the basket. He had a style that pretty unique. Always a good show..

[Awsi Dooger]

3. DJ was a terrific player

I remember him long before he got to the Celtics, in his Pepperdine and Sonics days. He was a star then, on a guard-oriented Seattle team that beat the Bullets in the finals.

Gad, it seems like just a few years ago he was coaching in the NBA. I had lost track of him after that point.

Terribly sad news. And a little bit weird since we just had a Pete Maravich thread yesterday, another guard who died suddenly and very young.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Just loved him. This makes me sad. nt

[PDittie]

6. 1987, game 5, against the Pistons

"Bird stole the ball!" but DJ took the feed and put in the layup. Bird said he was the best he'd ever played with (considering he played with McHale and Walton, two HoFers, that's a pretty high compliment).

From his Sonics days, when he could still sky: