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**Premier** · 02-22-2007, 01:06 PM

He passed away today during NBDL practice.

Not many sources, but Wikipedia has it "On February 22, 2007, Johnson collapsed and was later pronounced dead."

pokpok · 02-22-2007, 01:11 PM

RIP DJ

**Premier** · 02-22-2007, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Former Celtics Johnson dies suddenly at 52

Former Boston Celtics guard Dennis Johnson, coach of the Celtics' team in the NBA Development League, collapsed during practice Thursday and died, ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher is reporting.

Johnson was 52.

..

DWest Superstar · 02-22-2007, 01:16 PM

Awww man that sucks

RIP DJ

**HKF** · 02-22-2007, 01:21 PM

RIP. So sad.

Causeway · 02-22-2007, 01:26 PM

wow. A legend. Young guy. RIP DJ...

BackwoodsBum · 02-22-2007, 01:48 PM

A sad loss. I had the honor of speaking to DJ a couple of times in the late 80's and he struck me as an extremely classy individual off the court and his on court accomplishments speak for themselves. Rest in peace DJ!

**Dean the Master** · 02-22-2007, 02:25 PM

RIP Dennis Johnson.

**Knick_Killer31** · 02-22-2007, 02:32 PM

Loved this guy...class act. I was just shocked to hear this. RIP bro...RIP.

lempbizkit · 02-22-2007, 02:38 PM

Very sad. RIP

Causeway · 02-22-2007, 02:41 PM

55: Bird steals the ball, passes to DJ

Quote:

Bird knows Thomas is going to pass the ball to the sure-handed Laimbeer. So Bird fakes as if he is going to cover Rodman, waits a beat, and just when Thomas commits himself to pass the ball in toward Laimbeer, Bird makes his move, leaping out and bursting in front of Laimbeer.

"I started counting down the seconds in my head," Bird would later explain. At the precise moment that Bird breaks toward Laimbeer, Thomas lobs a weak, lazy, pass.

"I should have thrown the ball harder or Bill should have come in for it," Thomas would later admit.

Then comes a flash -- a green and white blur. "At first, I was going to foul Laimbeer," Bird would say later. "I thought that if I fouled him right away, there would still be four seconds left and even if he made the shots, we'd still have a chance to tie the game with a three."

But to the astonishment of the basketball world, Bird swipes the ball. "He just came from nowhere," Dumars would say. "All of a sudden he was in the picture. I tried to block it, but couldn't."

Celtics guard Jerry Sichting would later say, ''Larry suckered Isiah into making the pass. He was guarding Dantley on the other side of the lane, then started leaning toward Lambeer and Isiah didn't see him."

At the precise moment that Bird makes his move, Celtics point guard Dennis Johnson, stationed near the top of the key, anticipates a Bird steal and cuts down the lane, toward the basket. As Bird steals the pass, he maintains enough balance on one foot, enabling him to stay inbounds. He then fires a flawless bullet pass to DJ streaking toward the hoop.

"To make the steal was great enough," Celtics forward Kevin McHale said later. "But to then have the presence of mind to make a perfect pass to D.J. ... Amazing."

"Isiah's pass just hung up there," Bird would say. "It seemed to take forever to get to Laimbeer. [After stealing the pass], I was thinking about shooting, but the ball was going the other way and so was my momentum." If he shot the ball, he knew it would be an awkward, off-balance, low-percentage pray that would have little chance of hitting the cylinder.

Johnson, meanwhile, catches Bird's sizzling pass and lays the ball in smoothly off the glass as the Garden goes absolutely batty. After DJ scores, the Celtics smother Bird and jubilantly race off the court, knowing they just completed one of the most stunning and improbable last-ditch comebacks in sports history, leaving the Pistons to ponder their fate and astonishing defeat.

One of the all time great Celtic moments!

**#1AntoineWalkerFan** · 02-22-2007, 02:53 PM

too young...rip dj

persian pride · 02-22-2007, 03:40 PM

As a Net fan i am very sad to hear that DJ has passed away. He was a great player and class act. I made fun of walker a lot and insulted Celtics, but reality is that Celtics are a major part of NBA. I like you celtic fans. May DJ rest in peace. Peace to his family also.

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