Take a moment to think about how we treat AIDS these days. People are so aware of AIDS and understand its implications that it’s hard to believe that not that long ago, it was a completely taboo subject in society. It was first reported in June 1981 in five homosexual men in Los Angeles, and developed into what the media wrongfully termed GRID: Gay-related immune deficiency because AIDS was foreign. Because AIDS was dirty. And because AIDS was entirely misunderstood.
But then society was given a means to better understand this mysterious phenomenon, in the form of pop culture. Individuals that people looked up to and envied suddenly became the face of AIDS, and to me personally (I am a HUGE Lakers fan), one of the most important people to come out was Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Magic was one of the largest icons in basketball in his era, bringing Showtime to the NBA and eventually becoming one of the top ten players to ever play the game.
But, arguably his greatest accomplishment was also the greatest hardship of his life. Magic Johnson made a public announcement in 1991 that he had AIDS and was going to retire from professional basketball, fearing that any open wound would infect other players on the court. The sheer difficulty of admitting it during times when people still misunderstood AIDS was enormous, and only highlighted how important it was to Magic that he raise awareness at the cost of his career. He used his image and power to help educate others about AIDS, making it more widely known to everyone that anyone could contract it:
"I think sometimes we think, well, only gay people can get it - it is not going to happen to me. And here I am saying that it happen to anyone, even me Magic Johnson."
He inspired HIV-positive people everywhere, playing and winning the two last competitions in his career: the NBA All-Star game and the Olympics (yeah, the Olympics). His legacy in both basketball and AIDS awareness is clear every time I watch a Lakers game—which is a lot—and that makes basketball all the more enjoyable. Magic Johnson is still as loveable and respected today as he was when he made his heroic announcement, and it is people like him that inspire me in the fight for AIDS awareness.
