Top 100 NBA Players: #45

Dennis Johnson

(Simmons: #52, BBR: #99)

Dennis Johnson is one of the most underrated guards of all time, as evidenced by the fact that he wasn't even elected to the Hall of Fame until after his death, which was a full 17 seasons after he retired. Not only did he win three championships, but he was an integral part of each of those teams.

He started his career with the Seattle Supersonics, where in just his second season he helped take the extreme underdogs all the way to the NBA Finals. His averages went from 12.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in the regular season to 16.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in the playoffs, but in the last game of the NBA Finals, he choked, going 0-14 as the Sonics lost to the Bullets.

The next season, he came back in playoff form, matching the averages above and taking Seattle back to the Finals, and because he performed well throughout the playoffs and redeemed his previous failing, he was awarded the Finals MVP Award. In my profile of Gus Williams (#57) I showed why I thought the award should have gone to him instead, but there is no arguing that Johnson was one of the two stars on the title team, and that was in just his third season.

Johnson was even better the next season, averaging 19 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while being named to the All-Defensive Team for the second of what would become nine straight seasons. Unfortunately, the Sonics lost in the Western Conference Finals that year to the Lakers, who featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a rookie named Magic Johnson.

He was traded to the Phoenix Suns after that season in exchange for Paul Westphal, and while he continued to put up big numbers, he was not able to replicate the playoff success he enjoyed in Seattle. While he was a Sun, he made his only appearance on the All-NBA First Team and enjoyed his most impressive personal seasons.

After three season in Phoenix, he made his way to Boston via another trade, and was able to use his experience to help the Celtics make it to four straight NBA Finals, two of which earned him additional championship rings. While Kevin McHale and Robert Parish tend to be more recognized as stars during that period for Boston, more often than not it was Dennis Johnson playing second fiddle to Larry Bird on those great teams.

Above it all, Dennis Johnson was a winner, making the playoffs in every season after his rookie year ended. He made it at least to the Conference Finals 8 times in his career, and played in 6 NBA Finals. He was twice the second-best player on a champion, and he was always in the top 4 on those 8 teams that made deep playoff runs. Even though he never averaged 20 points per game for a full season, he was a huge asset if you wanted a winner.

Johnson and McHale played together on the great Celtic teams of the 1980's, and they took turns being the #2 and #3 guy on those teams. McHale was a slightly better player overall, but Johnson gets the edge over McHale because he had already built a nice playoff resume before he even came to Boston.