Johnson, Dennis W.
Basketball
b. Sept. 16, 1954, San Pedro, CA
"D. J." played at Los Angeles Harbor Junior College for two years and then spent one year at Pepperdine before being chosen by the Seattle SuperSonics as a so-called hardship case in the second round of the 1976 NBA draft.
Johnson was named most valuable player in the 1979 NBA finals, when he helped lead Seattle to the league championship, averaging 20.9 points and 4.0 assists per game in the playoffs.
Seattle traded him to the Phoenix Suns in 1980. He had a falling-out with coach John MacLeod during the 1982/83 season and was relegated to a backup role. The Suns sent him to the Boston Celtics for journeyman center Rick Robey after that season. It was a great deal for the Celtics.
In Boston, Johnson started for two NBA championship teams, in 1984 and 1986. He retired after the 1989/90 season. A fine all-around player, the 6-foot-4, 202-pound Johnson was best known for his defensive skills. He was named to the all-NBA defensive first team from 1979 through 1983 and in 1987, and he made the second team from 1984 through 1986.
Johnson scored 15,535 points in 1,100 regular season games, an average of 14.1 per game, and he also had 5,499 assists and 1,477 steals. He added 3,116 points, 1,006 assists, and 247 steals in 180 playoff games.
After more than 7 years as an assistant with the Celtics and the Seattle Supersonics, Johnson became Seattle's interim head coach with 24 games left in the 2002-03 season. He had an 8-16 record.