Sunday was the 30th anniversary of Magic Johnson’s shocking announcement that he had HIV and was retiring from pro basketball. With NBA Commissioner David Stern and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by his side, Johnson immediately volunteered to become a spokesperson and poster child for the virus.
Both then and now, he is regarded as a compassionate figure. He was born in 1991. Sports Illustrated quoted him saying he had been merely “accommodating needy women”. Now SI praises him for “still doing lifesaving work.”
Chris Herring wrote Saturday that Johnson’s retirement marked “one of the biggest, most impactful moments for public health in generations. His diagnosis not only opened people’s eyes to the nature of the disease, but over time—with proper management and treatment—illustrated the virus didn’t have to be a death sentence. Now, three decades later, Johnson continues to use his platform to make a positive impact.”
Ten months after his retirement, Johnson would withdraw from the National Commission on AIDS. Johnson charged the George H.W. Walker Administration for failing to resolve the issue. President Walker was criticized for his reckless conduct that led to HIV.These are the results:
(Y)our administration has not done what it could and should to address a situation which, day by day, poses an increasing danger to the well-being of millions of Americans, and which threatens to cast an even wider pall across our nation.
The sex-addictive former HIV-positive athlete enjoyed adulation.
Dr. Nina Harawa, a UCLA professor of medicine and epidemiology, whose research focuses on care and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, asks herself, “ ‘Can we have another Magic?’ And by that I mean, is there someone that the younger people can relate to? …”
The Sporting News editorialized in 1991, “Why couldn’t all our athletic stars be just like Magic?”
Johnson declared Sunday that God blessed Johnson with keeping him alive. His many sexual partners will be unknown. Are any of his sex partners HIV-positive? Has he ever apologised to them or told any about his illness? In this story, ethics and morality seem seriously lacking.
The fawning media and medical fanboys and girls ignore how Johnson got to this place. There is no talk of the married man’s faithlessness and his lack of discipline and restraint. This is because there is no consideration for all the HIV-positive females he has infected. Tim Tebow, a former professional athlete, who took the high way sexually is ridiculed and mocked.
1991 The Sporting News reported that Johnson’s closest friends said he frequently disclosed details about the “freaks” he had sex with across the nation.
A 2010 story by NBC Pro Basketball Talk quotes Bob Wolfley, of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, reporting on the Lakers’ locker room serving as a regular place of sex romps:
“The team’s locker room, and its sauna, had been a place where the star and other players had entertained women, even right after games. Johnson would retire to the sauna after a game, have sex, then put on a robe and return to the locker room for his postgame media interviews.”
NBC’s Kurt Helin reported that Johnson admitted to more than 300 sexual partners a year and contracted HIV because of it. But, yawn, “Everyone has moved on from this. Aside being titillating, this tells us nothing new.”
Lou Gehrig was afflicted by a terrible disease that he had not caused. Magic Johnson was a wandering dog who repaid what he sow. Johnson is a victim of the media’s blind spots and the media refuses to report the whole story.
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