Former Boston Celtics player and fan favorite Dennis Johnson passed away Thursday at the age of 52. Known during his playing days as simply "DJ," Johnson was in the middle of his second season at the helm for the NBA D-League’s Austin Toros.
Only 37 cards were issued of Johnson during his playing career (53 total), most of which are obscure and non-mainstream issues that are fairly difficult to track down. Recently, Johnson signed autographs for products such as 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends, 2005-06 Greats of the Game and the brand-new 2006-07 UD Black set.
As is the usual trend when an athlete passes, expect to see plenty of Dennis Johnson listings in online auctions, and plan on spending between 50 and 100 percent above listed book value. Although market practices seem insensitive, for sellers, there’s no better time to sell your DJ cards—as they’ll never be worth as much as they will be these next few days, for buyers, there’s no worse time to purchase a Dennis Johnson card as values will eventually settle down as windfall from his passing dissipates.
Johnson, a three-time NBA Champion (1979, 1984 and 1986) won the NBA Finals MVP Award in 1979 and was a perennial NBA All-Defensive First-teamer.
Dennis Johnson Card Checklist
| 1978-79 Supersonics Police #3 |
Dennis Johnson |
$2.00 |
$4.00 |
| 1978-79 Supersonics Team Issue #4 |
Dennis Johnson |
$4.00 |
$8.00 |
| 1978-79 Supersonics Team Issue 8 X 10 #2 |
Dennis Johnson |
$2.50 |
$5.00 |
| 1978-79 Topps #78 |
Dennis Johnson RC |
$4.00 |
$8.00 |
| 1979-80 Supersonics Police #9 |
Dennis Johnson |
$1.25 |
$2.50 |
| 1979-80 Supersonics Portfolio #3 |
Dennis Johnson |
$5.00 |
$10.00 |
| 1979-80 Topps #6 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.60 |
$1.50 |
| 1980-81 Suns Pepsi #4 |
Dennis Johnson |
$1.50 |
$3.00 |
| 1980-81 Topps #8 |
38 Pete Maravich/264 Lloyd Free SD/194 Denn |
$3.00 |
$6.00 |
| 1980-81 Topps #121 |
112 Mick.Johnson TL/264 Lloyd Free SD/194 D |
$0.40 |
$1.00 |
| 1981-82 Suns Pepsi #6 |
Dennis Johnson |
$4.00 |
$10.00 |
| 1981-82 Topps #34 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.20 |
$0.50 |
| 1981-82 Topps #W108 |
Dennis Johnson SA |
$0.08 |
$0.25 |
| 1983-84 Star #32 |
Dennis Johnson SP |
$9.00 |
$18.00 |
| 1984 Star Celtics Champs #19 |
Dennis Johnson IA |
$1.50 |
$4.00 |
| 1984-85 Star #6 |
Dennis Johnson |
$2.50 |
$5.00 |
| 1984-85 Star Arena #A4 |
Dennis Johnson |
$1.50 |
$4.00 |
| 1985 Star Team Supers 5x7 #BC4 |
Dennis Johnson |
$3.00 |
$6.00 |
| 1985-86 JMS Game #15 |
Dennis Johnson |
$2.00 |
$5.00 |
| 1985-86 Star #97 |
Dennis Johnson |
$1.50 |
$4.00 |
| 1985-86 Star Lakers Champs #3 |
Dennis Johnson IA |
$1.25 |
$3.00 |
| 1986 Celtics Cups #1 |
Dennis Johnson/Greg Kite |
$1.20 |
$3.00 |
| 1986-87 Fleer #50 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.75 |
$2.00 |
| 1987-88 Fleer #54 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.60 |
$1.50 |
| 1988 SLU Basketball #35 |
Dennis Johnson |
$35.00 |
$60.00 |
| 1988 SLU Basketball Open #35 |
Dennis Johnson |
$25.00 |
$30.00 |
| 1988-89 Celtics Citgo #3 |
Dennis Johnson |
$2.00 |
$5.00 |
| 1988-89 Fleer #10 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.20 |
$0.50 |
| 1988-89 Panini Stickers Spanish #5 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.80 |
$2.00 |
| 1989-90 Fleer #9 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.05 |
$0.15 |
| 1989-90 Hoops #121 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.01 |
$0.05 |
| 1989-90 Panini Stickers Spanish #2 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.80 |
$2.00 |
| 1990 Hoops Action Photos #28 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.50 |
$1.25 |
| 1990-91 Fleer #9 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.01 |
$0.05 |
| 1990-91 Hoops #41 |
Dennis Johnson SP |
$0.01 |
$0.05 |
| 1990-91 SkyBox #16 |
Dennis Johnson SP |
$0.01 |
$0.05 |
| 1992-93 Suns 25th #16 |
Dennis Johnson/1982-83 |
$0.40 |
$1.00 |
| 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Championship Numbers Autographs |
Dennis Johnson/3 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Championship Teammates Dual Aut |
Robert Parish/Dennis Johnson |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Championship Teammates Dual Aut |
Bill Walton/Dennis Johnson |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Championship Teammates Triple
Aut |
Robert Parish/Dennis Johnson/Bill Walton |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Championship Teammates Triple
Aut |
James Worthy/Dennis Johnson/Michael Coope |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Championship Teammates Triple
Aut |
Bill Walton/Dennis Johnson/Larry Bird |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Legendary Inscriptions #DJ |
Dennis Johnson DJ |
$15.00 |
$30.00 |
| 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Legendary Signatures #DJ |
Dennis Johnson |
$6.00 |
$15.00 |
| 2003-04 Upper Deck Legends Throwback #10 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.25 |
$0.60 |
| 2005-06 Greats of the Game #49 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.60 |
$1.50 |
| 2005-06 Greats of the Game Autographs #GGDJ |
Dennis Johnson |
$8.00 |
$20.00 |
| 2005-06 Greats of the Game Autographs Gold #GGDJ |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2005-06 Greats of the Game Gold #49 |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2006-07 UD Black Autographs Jersey Numbers #DJ |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2006-07 UD Black Autographs Jersey Numbers 1 #DJ |
Dennis Johnson |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| 2006-07 UD Black Autographs Quad #AMJP |
Robert Parish/Cedric Maxwell/Dennis Johnson/ |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
