Dennis Johnson, who will forever be remembered by Celtics fans and many other basketball enthusiasts, died of cardiac arrest yesterday. There’s an irony that Johnson, know as DJ, died during the NBA trade deadline since many consider the trade Boston made for Johnson was, as former Boston teammate Danny Ainge, now the Celtics’ executive director of basketball operations noted to ESPN, “one of the greatest Celtic acquisitions of all time.â€?Johnson was a favorite of teammate Larry Bird and a central force and playmaker on the court. I was there—sort of—when he and Bird combined for one of the most famous plays in Celtics’ history. The play happened in the final seconds of game five of the 1987 Eastern Conference. Boston was at home against Detroit and all the Pistons had to do to win and take control of the series was inbound the ball.

When Isiah Thomas went to throw the ball in, Bird, using his peripheral vision, swept over, stole it, threw it to DJ who laid it in for the win at the buzzer. The garden erupted; Johnny Most—the Celtics’ longtime, throaty, pugilistic radio announcer– was screaming, “Bird stole the ball. Bird stole the ball and DJ laid it in! Dennis Johnson laid it in!!â€? It was bedlam there and also at Fenway Park. That’s where I was.

The Red Sox game had just ended and there were pockets of the Faithful listening to the Celtics game on their radios. Probably a few hundred here and there all huddled around these tiny radios that fans were sharing with other interested fans. I was up in the roof seats and didn’t have a radio, but about fifteen or so of us were listening to one guy’s portable. Fenway was getting pretty dark. It was about 10 minutes or so after the game had ended. Everything was closed down.

When Bird stole the ball and DJ laid it in, everyone cheered. Here and there, there were these small groups of fans clapping hands, hooting and celebrating. I remember shaking my head and saying, “Those guys are just an amazing team.�

DJ was a remarkable player. Smart, hard working and unselfish—everything a Boston Celtic USED to be. DJ, thanks for that great Fenway-radio-Garden memory and many more. I remember the night Bird scored 50 points (I WAS there at the Garden) and you kept getting that ball into him. Both of you guys were on fire.

DJ, say “hi� to Red from all the Celtics fans! And god bless.

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