3 decades ago today, on November 7, 1991, basketball superstar Magic Johnson announced that he tested positive for HIV.
It was a major shock for the sports world. Johnson was one of the biggest stars in the NBA. He won multiple championships, and it was only a few months after his Los Angeles Lakers lost the Finals to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. People were expected them to compete again for an encore the following post-season.
But it was not meant to be. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has shown no mercy to those infected! Many have died slow painful deaths from a weakened immune system.
I was in 5th grade when the announcement was made. This was a topic of class discussion. We all thought Magic Johnson would be dead by the year 2000.
But yet, it's 2021, and Magic Johnson is still alive. He was lucky with the timing and the fortune he had to have access to medications that reduced the effects of HIV.
He did retire from the NBA after the announcement, but he did play in the 1992 Olympics as part of the USA Dream Team, the first group of NBA play in the Olympics. (Previously, the Olympics was reserved for amateur athletes).
He did return to play in the NBA in 1996 and then retired for good.
Magic Johnson did became a successful entrepreneur with his chain of movie theaters, as well as his partnership with other companies which he encouraged to set up shops in African-American communities.
He also tried his luck as a TV talk show host, record label executive, sports commentator, real estate investor, and a sports team executive. Some of those ventures worked out better than others.
Magic Johnson is still physically fit and still has his happy smile.
But just because some people can thrive after an infection, that doesn't mean everyone can be so lucky. Something to think about in this covid-era.
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Learn more about Magic Johnson's HIV announcement and its impact since then at
Chris Herring, “Thirty Years Later, Magic Johnson Is Still Doing Lifesaving Work,” Sports Illustrated, November 6, 2021, https://www.si.com/nba/2021/11/06/magic-johnson-30-year-anniversary-retired-nba.
