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 | | Wednesday, 7 November, 2001, 17:26 GMT The Magic show rolls on  Jordan inherited Magic's crown as the NBA's best player BBC Sport Online's Matt Slater profiles Magic Johnson on the 10th anniversary of the basketball legend's revelation that he was HIV positive. On 7 November 1991, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson made the most shocking announcement of a career that had been big news from the moment he first grabbed the nation's attention as a 19-year-old college basketball star. The then 32-year-old Johnson told reporters that he had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and would be retiring from pro basketball immediately.
The impact of this news cannot be underestimated. Johnson, the finest point guard in National Basketball Association history and a hero to millions, had contracted a disease that most Americans thought was the preserve of gay men and drug-users. Ten years ago, few realised the threat the disease posed to heterosexuals or understood the difference between HIV and AIDS. Public perceptions Worse still, the typical length of time from infection to death was eight to 10 years. "His announcement was huge, particularly for African Americans," said Phill Wilson, founder of the African American AIDS Policy and Training Institute in Los Angeles. "His announcement showed AIDS was not just a white disease, not just a gay disease. And that was critical."
As NBA Commissioner David Stern said: "I think we all had the image of this great physical specimen withering away and dying." Now fast forward to 7 November 2001. Magic remains in rude good health, and public perceptions of HIV and AIDS have been altered forever. In fact, Johnson is not just alive and well, but he is a hugely successful businessman. The Johnson Development Corporation has helped regenerate deprived inner-city areas - by bringing in chains like Starbucks and T.G.I.Fridays - and employs more than 3,000 people. Triple double And Magic, now 42, is still doing it on the court. On Friday, he led a Magic Johnson All-Stars team to a narrow 89-87 defeat against Michigan State, the university where Johnson first made his mark.
Johnson finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to claim a "triple double", the personal haul that he made famous during his glittering career. That Johnson can still control a game against men half his age is a testament not only to the advances that have been made in the treatment of HIV and AIDS, but also to his phenomenal ability. Johnson, with Larry Bird, saved pro basketball as a TV sport in the early 1980s, and helped pave the way for the Michael Jordan-led boom that the NBA experienced in the 1990s. The rivalry between Johnson and Bird - that started when Magic's Michigan State beat Larry's Indiana State in the 1979 US college championship final - reinvigorated a league that had become predictable and tainted with scandal. During the next decade, Johnson's LA Lakers and Bird's Boston Celtics met time and time again to contest the NBA title, while the two players took possession of the league MVP award.
He would go on to claim further glory when he returned to join the "Dream Team" in their successful pursuit of Olympic gold in 1992. While that comeback was short-lived, largely due to the concerns that some players voiced about his medical condition, Johnson returned again in 1996, but bowed out for good when the Lakers lost to Houston in the play-offs. Utah's Karl Malone was one of those players who expressed unease about sharing a court with Johnson in 1992. Malone later admitted that: "Maybe I shouldn't have said that. You're young, you don't know a lot of information on it." New drugs treatment There is no doubt that Johnson's case, and how he has handled it, has had a tremendous effect on how the disease is viewed and understood. "Was I scared? Yes I was," said Johnson, still the only high-profile sportsman to test positive for HIV.
"But once I understood what I had to do to beat it, I wasn't scared any more. I knew I could beat it. "I went up against Michael (Jordan) and Larry (Bird). I beat them. I could beat HIV." So far, thanks to the cocktail of AIDS drugs that are used today to keep the disease at bay, so good. "I feel wonderful. Everything is great," said Johnson. "I celebrate life and I live every day. Every day is a holiday for me. November 7 won't be any different." Clearly, much has changed for Johnson in the last 10 years. But it is to his credit that those changes are not as great as they might have been. As Phill Wilson said: "He's been a remarkable role model, as a human being, an African American, a man living with HIV." | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Other top US Sport stories:  Links to more US Sport stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||
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