"DJ" Dennis Johnson dies, age 52

[Broken Parachute]

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Rest in Peace, DJ

[Smithers]

a member of the greatest starting five to ever play the game. RIP.

[bigmike]

I heard this on TNT's half time show. Very very sad stuff.

RIP, DJ.

[startBBtoday]

a member of the greatest starting five to ever play the game. RIP.

nah, any celtics starting five from 57-63 was better. 5 hall of famers.

[Broken Parachute]

nah, any celtics starting five from 57-63 was better. 5 hall of famers.McHale-Parish-Bird-Ainge-DJ is pretty damn good.

[startBBtoday]

McHale-Parish-Bird-Ainge-DJ is pretty damn good.

yes, but 5 hof>3 hof

[bigmike]

yes, but 5 hof>3 hof
Quality of play in the 80's > quality of plays in the late 50's and 60's. You can't compare era's since the Celts then were dominating in a worse league.

[Broken Parachute]

My english teacher from last year's father played one year for the Celtics.

William Fenley I think was his name.

[startBBtoday]

Quality of play in the 80's > quality of plays in the late 50's and 60's. You can't compare era's since the Celts then were dominating in a worse league.


ok, but the starting 5 from the 50s/60s was the best comparatively speaking to the rest of the league ever. you cannot argue this. 5 hall of famers.

[bigmike]

ok, but the starting 5 from the 50s/60s was the best comparatively speaking to the rest of the league ever. you cannot argue this. 5 hall of famers.
I'm not aruging that they weren't great, but they were playing in a much more diluted league than the 80's.

[startBBtoday]

1962-1963 Boston Celtics

sam jones
tommy heinsohn
bill russell
john havlicek
bob cousy

with frank ramsey and k.c. jones off the bench

[startBBtoday]

even with the diluted league, it's hard to argue that a team with 5 starting hofers and two hof off the bench isn't the best starting 5 ever

[bigmike]

I'm not arguing that they aren't a great starting 5, but it was a different time, a different league. Wilt dominated the league when he played to a point that won't ever be matched. If he played today he'd be a good center. Who knows if all of them would've had hall of fame careers had they played in a different, tougher league then what they played in.

[preppyak]

McHale-Parish-Bird-Ainge-DJ is pretty damn good.
Quality of play in the 80's > quality of plays in the late 50's and 60's. You can't compare era's since the Celts then were dominating in a worse league.
yes, but 5 hof>3 hof
Plus, it is widely acknowledged as a travesty by most people on ESPN yesterday that DJ isn't in the hall of fame...so that comparison becomes 4 to 5...which is far more moot. Ainge himself calls him the most under-rated player in the game, and one of the best he ever played against.

That aside...its sad to see him pass on...this is the team that was the epitome of the NBA to me as I was growing up. I was just barely old enough to know who he was before he retired...and I've seen him play in so many of the ESPN Classic games. That play where he gets the pass from the Bird steal is...outside of Michael Jordan's buzzer beat vs the Cavs...my favorite NBA play of all time.