As a huge Celtics fan in the 80’s and early 90’s, I was sad to hear of the passing of Dennis Johnson today. DJ died of an apparent heart attack at the end of practice today in Texas, where he was coaching the Celtics NBDL team.

He was an oustanding defensive player in the NBA and helped lead championship teams in both Seattle (79) and Boston (84,86). He also was one of the only players whose defense was able to slow down Magic Johnson during the 80’s.

He played for 7 seasons in Boston, and was a part of what some consider the greatest NBA team of all time, the 1986 Celtics. The starting five included Johnson and Danny Ainge, along with what even more consider the best frontcourt in NBA history - Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale, and Larry Bird.

He will also always be remembered for a layup in game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference finals. He was on the receiving end of one of Larry Bird’s greatest assists. With the Celtics down one, only a few seconds on the clock, and the game apparently over, Bird stole a lazy inbounds pass from Isiah Thomas and passed the ball to Johnson, who was streaking towards the basket. The layup went in, the Celtics won the game to take a 3-2 series lead, and would later win game 7 to return to the NBA finals.