VJ Night: His Life Seems but a Dream

They broke out the champagne on VJ night, a time of celebration for the present and remembrance of loved ones lost.

This was about heroics and idols and departed fathers and dreams, and Vinnie Johnson, 33, a reserve guard for the Detroit Pistons, called them all his own.

Hitting the winning shot with seven-tenths of a second to play to give the Pistons a 92-90 victory over the Trail Blazers and their second consecutive NBA title was, of course, the heroics. It also constituted the dream, because this wasn’t supposed to be his moment, or at least it never had been.

“A lot of times I’m not in the game at the end, so it is a lot of dreams,” he said.

His whirlwind was only beginning.

Immediately after the game, while the Pistons were still celebrating on the court, Johnson searched for teammate Joe Dumars among the mass of pressed flesh. In the middle of all this excitement, a moment that wouldn’t seem to have room for anything except the success, Johnson, whose father died in October, hugged Dumars, whose father died just five days ago.

“Joe,” Vinnie said, “this is for our dads.”

Next stop, the idol.

Johnson went almost immediately to be interviewed by Earl Monroe on ABC radio. The Johnsons, of Brooklyn, N.Y., used to stay up late listening to the New York Knicks, and Monroe was a favorite of Vinnie Johnson and his father. Time for champagne in the Piston locker room and more interviews.

“Yes, it was the biggest shot of my life.

“No, I wasn’t sure right away it was going in.”

Also: “I don’t usually get a lot of arc on my jumpers, but there was a lot of arc on that sucker.

“Yes, I knew the pressure was all on me, because there’s wasn’t time to pass off again, not with the clock already down to four . . . three . . . two . . .

“I wanted to make sure it was the last shot in regulation, so that if I missed, they would not get another opportunity. I’ve never been in that situation before, so I didn’t know anything about being afraid.”

So he gave a head fake to Jerome Kersey, the Portland defender. Kersey bought it.

“He had to honor me because there (were) still two seconds remaining,” Johnson said.

Johnson stepped up and unloaded from about a 45-degree angle to the right of the basket, 14 feet out. It went through with 0.7 showing on the clock.

“Unbelieveable,” Piston Coach Chuck Daly said. “Only a great individual player could make that. And Vinnie is a great one-on-one player.”

It showed, Detroit again riding a streak-shooting guard to the lead, just as it had done with Isiah Thomas in previous games this series and Thomas again earlier Thursday. Johnson, who missed all three of his shots in the first half and didn’t have any attempts in the third quarter, heated up when it mattered, scoring seven of the Pistons’ final nine points.

It started with 2:02 left, the Pistons having called timeout for a last charge at a 90-83 Trail Blazer advantage. Johnson made it look like a two-minute, no huddle, hurry-up offense.

With 1:50 to play, he scored from about 12 feet out, drew the foul from Clyde Drexler--his sixth--and made the free throw: 90-86.

With 1:21 remaining, he hit from the right baseline: 90-88.

After Thomas scored with 36 seconds left to tie the score at 90-90, it came back to Johnson, for the last time. The Pistons had called time out with 20 seconds to play, and they proceeded to churn the clock down into single digits for the final shot of regulation.

Johnson shook Kersey and fired: Championship points.

The hero who lived a dream and met his idol clutched on to the moment for all it was worth, that being plenty. He did all the interviews, drank the champagne, bathed in the champagne fully clothed, poured the champagne. This is what it was all about.

This and the other fragile property he bear-hugged for a moment in the winner’s locker room. The gold-colored championship trophy was his to hold for a well-deserved moment. He grasped tight for the clicking cameras. His second-most memorable shot of the night.