Warm Up the DJ

Dennis Johnson provided the Celtics with a much-needed spark. After Boston won the 1981 NBA World Championship title but failed to make the NBA Finals over the next two seasons, Red Auerbach traded for DJ, the 1979 NBA Finals MVP with the Seattle SuperSonics. Johnson’s defensive intensity and basketball intelligence paid immediate dividends as the Celtics appeared in four consecutive NBA Finals, winning two NBA World Championship titles. “He was one of the most underrated players in the history of the game, in my opinion, and one of the greatest Celtic acquisitions of all time,” said teammate Danny Ainge. “DJ was a free spirit and a fun personality who loved to laugh and play the game.” Johnson was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.