DJ interview

[kevin from singapore <bostonceltics17@yahoo.com>]

http://www.insidehoops.com/nba_interview_dennis_johnson_040501.shtml

NBA LEGEND INTERVIEW April 5, 2001
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EXCLUSIVE SPORTS INTERVIEW with 
Celtics legend Dennis Johnson  
By INSIDE HOOPS 
"Now there's a steal by Bird, underneath to D.J., lays it up
and in!"
Dennis Johnson is currently an assistant coach with the Los
Angeles Clippers. He was the point guard of the championship
80's Celtics teams. We recently met up with D.J. and
discussed the good old days.


Jeff Lenchiner:  What are your fondest  memories of being a
Celtic?

Dennis Johnson: Oh, Jesus, with them guys you could pick
almost anything. The best though is when we're going to
practice, and, our practice team could have been our
starting unit at any point, and make no mistake about it,
they really could have. So, my fondest memories of the team,
is that every day we went to practice, it was almost better
than our game, it was probably 90% better than our games
that we played, because when we got ready after practice,
and we had to go out on the floor to play, we were always
ready, and the other [practice] team made sure of that. 


Jeff: And what was it like playing against the lakers, what
kind of things went through your mind...

Dennis Johnson: That was geared up in training camp, even
though we weren't going to see them for six months. You pick
up the paper, you look, you see who they got on their
roster, you say, "ok, ok, he'll be there, he'll be there,
he'll be there, yeah we can't wait till we get there..." and
I guarantee you they did the same thing. A lot of people
will tell you that they didn't, but if you sit down one on
one with them and you ask them they'll tell you, "oh,
yeah..."  they looked at the paper, when we got ready to get
there we always made sure we got out here (Los Angeles) two
days earlier than the game so we were rested... but we made
sure of that and we got ahead so we were rested, so we knew
when we threw that ball up, we were ready to go. It was
kinda like them coming to us, they knew they were gonna be
disliked a lot, and we knew we were gonna be disliked out
here, but that just fueled the fire a lot more.


Jeff: Tell me what was special about Larry [Bird] in
practice that not everyone would know.

Dennis Johnson:  I don't even know if it was special, I
think, he practiced the way he played. And when you say that
to people, you honestly got to know the way he played,
because the way he played, is the exact way... I mean if the
ball was rolling down there it didn't matter if we were in
practice, you could guarantee he was gonna take five more
steps and dive for it, and that you wouldn't see from
anybody. He honestly practiced the way he played, and played
the way he practiced, and would never sit out a practice
whether he was hurting or not, because I think he always
felt that it was his example, that, if he was gonna fight
through this, whether it was a cold, whether it was a hurt
back, whether it was a sore leg, or anything, then everybody
else should be out there. He was never a man of many words,
everything he did was action.