In the NBA-released video commemorating the 1984 Boston Celtics, they had a segment where they showed every player with the last name Johnson in the league at the time. Today's profile highlights one of those Johnsons. Here is a profile of former Celtic Dennis Johnson.

Dennis Johnson was born September 18, 1954 in San Pedro, California. Johnson grew up in Compton, California, and originally wanted to play baseball, but he learned basketball from his dad. Initially, the thought was Johnson was too small to play basketball; he measured only five foot nine at Dominguez High School (the alma mater of current Piston Tayshaun Prince). But after a growth spurt, Los Angeles Habor College coach Jim White convinced him to play for their team. Depsite on-court success (Johnson led L.A. Habor to a junior college state title), he clashed with White and was kicked off the team three seperate times. Only two regular colleges gave Johnson scholarship offers, and he chose Pepperdine University.

At Pepperdine, Johnson played forward and center despite being six foot three, and in his only year there, he averaged 15.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 3.3 APG. After that season, Johnson declared for the 1976 NBA Draft, despite not knowing if an NBA team would take his baggage. The Seatte Supersonics chose Johnson with the 12th pick of the second round (29th overall), convinced he was a diamond in the rough. Johnson played as a backup during his rookie season to guards Donald "Slick" Watts and "Downtown" Fred Brown, averaging 9.2 PPG and 3.7 RPG. But after the season ended without a playoff appearance, Bill Russell resigned as coach, and after Bob Hopkins struggled early in the 1977-78 season, he was replaced by Lenny Wilkens, who installed Johnson and newly acquired Gus Williams in the backcourt. Johnson played well for Wilkens, playing primarily SG and actually having impressive leaping ability during this time. The Sonics finished strong with a 47-35 record and advanced to their first NBA Finals. However, the Sonics lost in seven games to the Washington Bullets, and Johnson had one of his worst games ever in the deciding seventh game, missing all 14 of his shots (the worst shooting performance in Finals history). Johnson gained his revenge the following season, making the first of five All-Star Game appearances (the others were 1980-82 and 1985) and leading the Sonics back to the Finals, beating the Bullets in five games, where Johnson was named Finals MVP.

Things started turning south for Johnson in Seattle during the 1979-80 season. Johnson clashed with Wilkens throughout that season (and in the seasons before that), and the Sonics eventually lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers. Finally having had enough of the clashes, the Sonics traded Johnson to the Phoenix Suns for Paul Westphal. Johnson played very well for the Suns, averaging at least 14.2 PPG in each of his seasons with the team (including a career best 19.5 PPG in 1981-82), but as in Seattle, he clashed with his coach (John MacLeod), and the Suns grew weary of him. In 1983, he was traded once again, this time to the Boston Celtics for Rick Robey and draft picks.

In Boston, Johnson finally settled down and didn't clash with his coach (now K.C. Jones) and thoroughly enjoyed his time in Beantown. In his first season, Johnson helped the Celtics win 62 games and advance to the NBA Finals, where he copped his second title and was given credit for playing great defense against Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson. In all, Johnson helped Boston reach four NBA Finals, winning his third title in 1986, made one All-Star team during his tenure, and was named All-NBA Defensive 1st team in 1986-87 (he made the All-Defensive 1st team six times for his career). Johnson retired after the 1989-90 season, having scored 15,535 points (14.1 PPG career) and 5,499 assists (5.0 APG).

In retirement, Johnson briefly became a scout, then plunged into coaching as a Celtics assistant from 1993-97. Johnson then stayed out of coaching until 2002-03, when he served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers, during which time he became interim head coach for the final 24 games for the fired Alvin Gentry. In 2006, he coached the NBA Developmental League's Florida Flames, and then the Austin Toros, before tragically dying on February 22, 2007 of a heart attack. In assessing Johnson, former teammate Danny Ainge called him "one of the most underrated player of all time...and one of the best Celtics acquisition", and Bill Laimbeer, a fierce rival, said he was "a great player on a great ballclub". Such was the essence of Dennis Johnson, a player that history oftens overlooks, but a player who was respected by the players he played against, which is what really counts.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1976-77: 81 GP, 9.2 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 50.4 FG%, 62.4 FT%
1977-78: 81 GP, 12,7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 41.7 FG%, 73.2 FT%
1978-79: 80 GP, 15.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.5 APG, 43.4 FG%, 78.1 FT%
1979-80: 81 GP, 19.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.1 APG, 42.2 FG%, 78.0 FT%, 20.7 3P%
1980-81: 79 GP, 18.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.7 APG, 43.6 FG%, 82.0 FT%, 21.6 3P%
1981-82: 80 GP, 77 GS, 19.5 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.6 APG, 47.0 FG%, 80.6 FT%, 19.0 3P%
1982-83: 77 GP, 74 GS, 14.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.0 APG, 46.2 FG%, 79.1 FT%, 16.1 3P%
1983-84: 80 GP, 78 GS, 13.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.2 APG, 43.7 FG%, 85.2 FT%, 12.5 3P%
1984-85: 80 GP, 77 GS, 15.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 6.8 APG, 46.2 FG%, 85.3 FT%, 26.9 3P%
1985-86: 78 GP, 78 GS, 15.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.8 APG, 45.5 FG%, 81.8 FT%, 14.3 3P%
1986-87: 79 GP, 78 GS, 13.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 7.5 APG, 44.4 FG%, 83.3 FT%, 11.3 3P%
1987-88: 77 GP, 74 GS, 12.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 7.8 APG, 43.8 FG%, 85.6 FT%, 26.1 3P%
1988-89: 72 GP, 72 GS, 10.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 6.6 APG, 43.4 FG%, 82.1 FT%, 14.0 3P%
1989-90: 75 GP, 65 GS, 7.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 6.5 APG, 43.4 FG%, 84.3 FT%, 4.2 3P%