Magic Johnson says enjoying on the 1992 Olympics after his HIV analysis ‘was the best second’ of his life

“The whole lot was going properly, after which this devastating information comes,” Johnson instructed Kay. On the time, Johnson was a star participant on the Los Angeles Lakers, main the group to 5 championship wins between 1980 and 1988.

Johnson shared with Kay the recommendation his physician gave him: Be constructive and settle for you’ll have HIV for the remainder of your life; take your medication each day; and train. “Do these three issues, you give your self an opportunity,” he recalled being instructed.

Johnson, now 64, had simply married to Cookie Johnson, who was pregnant on the time, two months earlier than saying his HIV analysis, Kay identified within the interview.

“The longest trip I ever had in my life was going residence to inform Cookie I had HIV,” Johnson stated. She slapped his face when he instructed her, however assured him that they might work by way of it collectively.

His analysis not solely threatened his private life, however his profession, too. The 1992 NBA All-Star Sport and Barcelona Olympics had been approaching—in the meantime, gamers didn’t wish to be on the courtroom with Johnson, he stated. They feared getting HIV, too, as stigma and misinformation across the illness and its transmission remained excessive within the early Nineties. 

The late David Stern, former commissioner of the NBA, helped change Johnson’s trajectory. Stern’s determination to permit Johnson to play within the 1992 All-Star recreation proved that being round an HIV constructive individual was secure—and that Johnson was nonetheless on the prime of his recreation.

Stern’s determination “not solely modified the basketball gamers’ minds, it modified the world,” Johnson instructed Kay.

Stern’s help for Johnson’s profession continued into the 1992 Olympics, the place he personally picked Johnson to be on the group of 10 representing Crew USA, he instructed Kay. 

“Once I received that decision, that I used to be one of many guys to play, I used to be screaming and hollering,”  Johnson stated within the interview. “It was the best second of my life, particularly having come off retirement and HIV [diagnosis]. It was such an awesome honor to signify my nation, the Lakers, my household.”

That ‘Dream Crew,’ because it was known as, would go on to dominate the Olympics, going undefeated to win gold. 

However whereas Johnson was driving the excessive of the Video games, he struggled financially. Skilled athletes typically depend upon sponsorships to make a residing, and after sharing his analysis, a number of sponsors dropped him, he stated.

Johnson didn’t remorse going public together with his analysis, although. “I felt good about it,” he instructed Kay. “I wished to assist individuals.” 

He met with individuals who had been identified with HIV and had been afraid to share the information, whereas educating others who could concerning the situation. 

In 1991, Johnson based the Magic Johnson Basis, whose mission consists of creating packages that help AIDS/HIV consciousness, therapy and prevention.

“I used to be on a mission,” Johnson stated.

Johnson has turn into a central voice in destigmatizing HIV and AIDS. Kay stated that she known as Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Illnesses. He instructed her that “Johnson did greater than nearly anybody to raise the stigma” round AIDS.