It was very sad to hear the news on KUT this morning. As a kid, I was a Celtics fan back in the Eighties and Dennis Johnson was a well-known player on the team with Bird, McHale, Aigne and Parish. He wasn’t very tall, compared to the others, but I remember he was a really effective guard. Good ball handler.
When the NBA’s developmental league added a franchise to Austin, the Toros, I was only excited about the team having Dennis Johnson as the coach. Personally, all the truly great players make the transition like Doc Rivers, the only member of Marquette’s 1977 NCAA championship team to have a shred of a career in the NBA. Anyway, I have a bit of regret not going to any of the Toros games now that DJ passed away. I kept putting it off and off yet kept a glimmer of hope that when I did go see them, I might have a brief conversation and photo op with one of my childhood NBA heroes.
Currently, both of the upcoming game for the Toros are postponed. I think I will make some effort to go now, especially if there’s going to be a tribute to him.