Dennis Johnson: the rest of the story

Published Feb 23 2007, 07:42 PM by Adam Reilly

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In the wake of Celtics great Dennis Johnson's untimely death, it's natural that his on-court accomplishments are getting loads of attention. But what about the domestic-abuse case that embroiled Johnson in 1997?



That October, Johnson was arrested in Orlando after allegedly grabbing his wife by the throat and threatening her with a knife. Here's a description from the Oct. 21, 1997 Globe:

According to the police report, which was obtained from Channel 4, Dwayne Johnson [Johnson's 17-year-old son] saw the argument as it escalated to the point that Dennis Johnson grabbed his wife in a choking manner with his left hand and held a knife in front of her face.

According to the report, Donna Johnson yelled, "What are you going to do, kill me? Go ahead." Dennis Johnson replied, "You don't think anybody will hit you?"

After a few moments, Johnson let his wife go but was still yelling and holding the knife, the report said. When Dwayne attempted to stop the argument, his father said, "Don't you even, or I'll knock you the [expletive] out." Donna Johnson replied, "No you won't. You won't touch him."

Dwayne Johnson told police he believed his father would hit him, so he ran to a neighbor's house and asked her to call 911. He then returned to the house, saw the argument had died down, and called 911 himself.

In November 1997, though, the various charges against Johnson were dropped when his wife and son refused to cooperate with prosecutors. Johnson apparently reconciled with his family, but the incident compromised his efforts to build an NBA coaching career; when he died, Johnson was coaching the Austin Toros in the NBA's Development League.

Which brings us to today's treatments of Johnson's death. The Herald's Steve Bulpett doesn't mention the knife incident in his obit or "appreciation"--even though he covered it for the Globe at the time, and later chronicled its impact on Johnson's coaching career.

Over at the Globe, meanwhile, columnist Jackie MacMullan alludes to the incident but steers clear of ugly details: "DJ dreamed of being an NBA coach, but a messy domestic abuse incident involving his wife, Donna, hampered his efforts to earn a legitimate shot at such a job." Shira Springer ignores it completely. So does AP, so does Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum, and so does ESPN's Bill Simmons in an otherwise fantastic homage.

Johnson was an amazing player, and he may have been a good man who just made a terrible mistake ten years ago. But pretending the events of that day never happened--or eliding them as "messy"--is awfully tough to justify.

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10 Comments

• andre nasim said:

  why you would bring a negative point up like that about him..he was a great player and his wife and family have moved on..talk positive about dj the legend..he was my hero and a role model to admire
  February 23, 2007 9:37 PM

• jvwalt said:

  It's pretty normal to ignore the bad and emphasize the good when a prominent person has died. Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, for instance. For another sports example, the death of Bo Schembechler in my home state of Michigan. The postmortem hagiography concentrated on Bo the patriarch of Michigan football (and downplayed his poor record in bowl games). On a message board, I referred to his disastrous tenure as President of the Detroit Tigers in the early 90s, when the team was allowed to get old, the farm system fell into disrepair, and Bo alienated the fans with his persistent calls for a new ballpark -- which he wanted built in the suburbs, not in Detroit. Well, I got a quick blast of criticism from people who acknowledged the truth of what I'd said, but deplored the timing. Fair or not, right or wrong, we do not tend to speak ill of the recently departed.
  February 24, 2007 2:50 AM

• Rick in Duxbury said:

  Hey, if he wanted to rewrite history, he should have married into the Governor's family....
  February 24, 2007 3:33 AM

• Adam said:

  Jvwalt, I take your point. For what it's worth, here's how CNN acknowledged the post-baseball troubles of Kirby Puckett, probably the biggest sports hero in my own home state of MN, when he died at 45: "Puckett's reputation took a hit when he went on trial in 2003 after a woman accused him of groping her in a Minneapolis bar, but he was found not guilty." Quick reference near the end of the piece--but it was there. (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/06/obit.puckett/index.html)
  February 24, 2007 12:44 PM

• O-FISH-L said:

  The Phoenix and Globe's post-mortem smear of DJ seems to be a well-orchestrated but ill-conceived attempt to show that the vicious coverage after Jimmy Kelly's death was somehow justified. Sadly for DJ's family and friends, DJ just happened to be the first prominent local African-American to die after the attempt to destroy Kelly's reputation. Whether it was Ed Brooke, Jim Rice or DJ who died this week, the obit was certain to feature a bit of scandal. "Look ma, we're not liberal, we can defame a black guy in death too." Pathetic.
  February 24, 2007 2:07 PM

• Adam said:

  You're being way too conspiracy-minded, O-Fish. I just don't think obituaries should be hagiographies, whatever the race of the newly deceased. But apparently you do.
  February 24, 2007 2:56 PM

• Fanning said:

  Derrick Jackson weaves this unfortunate incident into his tribute to Johnson's determination. DJ made mistakes like the rest of us do, but we should all work as hard at recognizing them and taking steps to overcome them. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/02/24/the_man_in_dennis_johnson/
  February 24, 2007 7:38 PM

• Aging Cynic said:

  O-Fish, if the MSM wants to put a hit out on you, you're toast. The AP piece now up on Boston.com about Romney's polygamous forebears is a good example. He is as capable of controlling history as Deval was of controlling unfortunate decisions by HIS relatives. Doesn't matter. When the agenda is to torpedo traditional value, the end justifies the means. Meanwhile, Globies sniff about tabloid tactics at the Herald. Ugh.
  February 24, 2007 7:55 PM

• ICRat97 said:

  Adam, do you think that this had something to do with the fact that the incident wasn't as high profile as other similar cases? To be 100% honest, I am a Boston native and I did not even know about this incident. Maybe I knew of it and forgot it, but I honestly didn't even know/think of this until you brought it up. If someone asked me to name off some of these similar Boston sports incidents I would list off Robert Parrish, Will Cordero, Margo Adams/Wade, and wouldn't even have thought of this. I am not saying it doesn't deserve mention, but I wonder if that played into it a little bit. I could totally be off here though. Curious to see what you thought of Derrick Z.'s column today. I think everyone knew what was coming when we saw his headline today.
  February 24, 2007 8:11 PM

• O-FISH-L said:

  Adam To be honest, with the exception of a Father Shanley (I'm also Roman Catholic)or a President Nixon (I'm also Republican) I think a hagiography is A-OK in all but the extreme cases. An obit is supposedly a news story, crafted by a reporter, filled with facts good and bad, while a death notice is an advertisement placed by the family. Now, with so few reporters left in our newsrooms, only the most famous deceased have obits that are subject to newsroom research and negative reportage. One domestic argument didn't make DJ a wife-beater no more than opposition to forced busing made Jimmy Kelly a racist. If it's now the standard to include something negative in each obituary, than so be it. The media should just stay consistent whether it's a Prince or Pauper who has died. When the next Globe pressman with 42 years unblemished service dies, I also want to know that he had an OUI in Scituate in 1962. Actually, I don't want to know, but if we need to hear the negative on one, we must hear it on all. O-FISH-L
  February 24, 2007 8:39 PM

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