Dennis Johnson Dies At 52
February 23, 2007 by Angelo Fernandez
Filed under NBA Basketball
First Red Auerbach dies. Then the Celtics lose 18 straight. Just when the Celtics thought it can’t get any worse, another Celtic great dies.If I were with the Celtics organization now I’d really think there’s some kind of curse going on. But seriously, I was deeply saddened by the news of the death of the great Dennis Johnson. He was 52 years old.There goes another NBA great and he died pretty young too.
Johnson, coach of the Austin Toros, was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at Austin Convention Center, said Warren Hassinger, spokesman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate him for 23 minutes before he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, Hassinger added. Mayra Freeman, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office, said there will be an autopsy.
Johnson died still doing what he loved – basketball. He was a great player in his day, winning three championships – one with the Seattle Sonics and two with the Boston Celtics together with Larry Bird. As a coach he was always considered a great teacher of the game and of life. The D-league was lucky to have a guy like johnson teaching the young eager to learn guys there so his death is really a terrible loss – a loss to the d-league, to the NBA, to the Celtics and even the Sonics, to the game of basketball, to his friends and most especially his family. DJ, rest in peace! We’ll definitely miss you!
More on DJ:
An Appreciation: Dennis Johnson
