I was only four years old in 1991 when Magic Johnson made an announcement that changed sports and the battle against HIV. It lives infamously in Laker Nation and in the hearts of person’s afflicted by HIV when Earvin Effacy Johnson otherwise known as Magic “Showtime” Johnson announced that he had AIDS and that he was retiring from the NBA. When I watch it now, it hits me hard because I know my status and even though I’m not in the NBA, I can not imagine the paramount affect it would have on my friends and family.
The entire team took a blood test before they would travel and doctors came back with a positive blood test. It was a routine test that they took before traveling abroad, NBA routine tests, this wasn’t his first blood test. This was as good as getting a check up or a physical for Johnson.
From the time he stepped foot on a basketball court as a child to his college years at Michigan State to being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson was a a star. He epitomizes the term phenomenon in respect to his showmanship and skills as a basketball player. He was drafted as the number 1 overall player in the 1979 draft by the Lakers. In his first year as a Rookie, he led the Lakers to a NBA championship and was the Finals Most Valuable Player as a Rookie. If you know Laker’s fans, you know they love their Lakers more than life (I would know). Johnson even helped his country win a Gold Metal at the Olympics.
This is the most important part, when you get HIV/AIDS test results, you either test as reactive or non reactive (positive or negative). In 1991 Magic Johnson eluded to the media that he had an announcement that would change his life. Media members rushed to the news room that he would eventually announce that he had HIV and waited and waited and waited. If you were there you probably would have thought you waited hours. Magic Johnson told his teammates, his coach Pat Riley, then he wiped some tears and made the announcement.
He announced that he had tested positive for HIV and that he had AIDS and that he would immediately retire to seek treatment and to be with his family. He told his wife and she tested negative and their child was negative as well. This was televised, and yes the whole world was watching. He was the Michael Jordan, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant of his time. He won National Titles in college, gold medals with the United States olympic team, and NBA championship as a rookie. From that day on he promised to help fund research for HIV and AIDS.
Now when we hear someone has HIV we say “get some treatment”, in the 90’s people would say “he’s going to die”. The world did not know as much about it in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It was seen as a death sentence due to its negative stigma and deadly consequences, but people were finding out that they had AIDS its early late stages complemented with no treatment which eventually led to death not too long after discovering they had this deadly disease. The virus was detected in Magic’s case in its early stage and was treated for it immediately.
This is to say one of two things; number one get tested. Two learn how to protect yourself. African American women are number one at risk and are cited for the highest group living with the disease. This is all to say that a person at their prime on a national stage got a routine blood test and found out they had AIDS. Now this story could have been very different and we could have been singing a sad song, but we’re not.
With his generous efforts due to a promise he made, he has raised millions of dollars in research for HIV so we don’t have to sing that sad song for our friends, classmates, and family members. He has brought awareness to the issue.
Johnson is releasing a documentary on the announcement of his decision which will be aired on ESPN.
