The notion of a butterfly effect — the idea that small changes can have massive effects throughout history — could very well have been in play had Dennis Johnson’s uncle not been as generous as he was when tragedy struck Johnson’s family while he was still in college.
The future Boston Celtics champion got word that his family home had burned down while he was playing for Pepperdine, and nearly ended up dropping out of school to help his family get back on their feet. For the Los Angeles native, whose basketball career had been quite tenuous up to that point, making sure things were okay at home was no minor concern
