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Author Topic: 'Magic Johnson Is HIV Positive:' 20 Years Later, The Man Still Looms Larger Than  (Read 3023 times)

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Offline weary1969

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Written by: Les Carpenter
 
I was on the phone with my editor at the time, talking about the mindless things writers and editors talk about, when I heard.
 
"Magic Johnson says he is HIV positive and will retire from the NBA," my editor said.
 
His tone never changed as he read this off the wire. It came without the "Oh my gosh" or "You aren't going to believe this," one would expect to proceed such an announcement. He just read it as it appeared on his computer screen, as if he was repeating a list of weekly assignments.

"Magic Johnson is HIV positive."
 
Twenty years later I can feel the sudden chill of a warm afternoon turned cold. The moment remains locked in my mind; from the smoothness of the phone receiver, to the way the blinds were pulled three-quarters of the way up the window of the small house I rented on Connecticut's shore.
 
Never had 13 words seemed more improbable. Thinking of them now, they still do. No athlete seemed more alive than Magic. And my first thought as the editor read the bulletin was that we were going to watch the slow, steady shriveling of Magic Johnson. This was the beginning of the end, of course. Nobody lived long with HIV. That much we knew back then. Maybe it would be a few months, perhaps two years, but the decline was going to be fast. His face would sallow, his great body would wither. There would be living memorials. There would be a funeral.

And it would all happen before the decade was halfway gone.
 
"He is going to die! He is going to die!" I can still hear the AIDS activist shouting that night on TV. Of course he was going to die. HIV meant AIDS back then and AIDS meant a rapid and awful death. It was all we knew in a world where we didn't understand this disease that had seemed to come from nowhere but was filling in everywhere.

The last thing anyone could have expected was that two decades later, his story would be about life.

He not only didn't die, he became larger than ever

In the town next to mine in the Washington suburbs, there is a Magic Johnson theatre. Sometimes when I am on Capitol Hill, I drop into a Magic Johnson Starbucks. I hear of Magic Johnson developments and Magic Johnson charities. On the Seattle night in 1999 when teargas from the WTO protests filled the air, I walked a few blocks to KeyArena where I sat a few rows behind Magic and Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz at a Sonics-Lakers game. Now there is talk he wants to buy a sports team.
 
Who knew he would last this long? Who knew he would be so big? To watch him now, dressed in suits, his body larger than in his basketball days yet robust with his face a healthy glow, it's as if he will live forever. He is 52 now, middle aged, at the point where many of his contemporaries walk with limps and aching backs. The irony is they too expected Magic to be gone by now and yet he is the one who is lively and robust, the one who is doing things.

I got in my car and drove that day he announced he had HIV. My thoughts were a jumble, a knot tightened in my stomach. I was just 24 and in my first newspaper job, a place where breaking news is supposed to send you skittering to the computer. Today we are more accustomed to these kinds of things. We live on a diet of breaking news feeds, sucked in by the scrolling red bar that comes many times a day bearing the promise of altering our world. But the bar comes so fast now, each bulletin shouting something big: Death! Verdict! Upset!

No announcement before or since has knocked me flat the way that one did. My guess is there are dozens in this business who would say the same thing. Eventually, seeking solace, I found myself at a church basketball court where I sometimes played. A friend, a Celtics fan, dressed in his Larry Bird jersey, held his wrists limp and swished flamboyantly: "I'm Magic!" he shouted, prancing about.

The rest of us stared, our faces filled with disgust. How could you be a fan? How could you love the game and act like that?

And look at Magic Johnson now. How silly our worry, our pain, our scorn.
 
He's survived that day's worst thoughts and fears.

In the end, that's the biggest news of all.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline weary1969

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I remember that day it was a Thursday I just returned from my social work practicum and was in my dorm in Mary Seacole Hall and the 4 pm News was on. I heard Magic name my heart started to raise Isay oh God doh tell meh he dead. For Magic's name to be in a 4 pm news cast could not be good news. Basketball scores was Patrick Ewing scored x abount of points for the New York Knicks last nite.

So when I heard the news all I said was Magic have AIDS. When I calmed down I realized he was HIV+ and AZT was around and I said Magic would probably get hit by a bus and HIV would not kill him I was correck.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline weary1969

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November 8, 2011 – 9:30 am by Chris Fedor
Earvin “Magic” Johnson will always be known as one of the greatest winners in NBA history. Magic was the engine that led the Lakers to five World Championships and who knows how many more it could’ve been. However, none of those five titles even represent his greatest victory in life. It was 20 years ago yesterday when Johnson shocked the world with his announcement that he was HIV-positive. At that time, knowing what the world knew about the subject, it didn’t look good. It looked like the first time Johnson wouldn’t come out victorious in a battle. Yet like always, Magic fought, battled, and showed just how strong he is. At 52 years-old Magic looks healthy, he is tremendously successful, and has done a great job with awareness on the subject. Something that 20 years ago yesterday looked nearly impossible.

A.C. Green joined The Fan 590 in Toronto with Jeff Blair to talk about how he was feeling when Magic Johnson made the announcement 20 years ago that he had AIDS, what that morning was like leading up to the announcement, how hard it was for him to not be judgmental because of his stance on abstinence before marriage, and whether or not he noticed players changing how they acted after the announcement.

How he reacted when Magic Johnson made the announcement that he had AIDS:

“Well Jeff, we of course, we had a pre-conference meeting where it was just the team before that announcement. When we heard it in the locker room and we spoke to Magic, who was the one that gave us that particular message there were similar thoughts because as you’ve stated we just didn’t know a lot. We weren’t as well educated or as informed and so we equated that particular virus, the HIV virus, full blown AIDS, the next stage, and fatality being the third and final chapter basically. There were a lot of tears when he shared that news. This was the same locker room that we won many championships because of him. We’re sitting there as a full team, Jerry West the GM, Dr. Buss is in this room, our trainers of course, there’s just all of our Laker family there so when he said we didn’t know what to make of it, what to think of it. Yes your mind will race instantly and did as eyes sort of shifted as he released those words. ‘Guys I’m gonna have to retire because of this.’ Eyes started to shift because I was like ‘is he serious?’ But everyone is there and you knew he had to be for real about it. From the shifty eyes, eyes started to well up because guys realized he’s being real and it’s not a joke and so it was a tough moment for sure.”

What the morning before the announcement was like and how the team found out that there was going to be an announcement of some sort:

“What happened was we normally have a 9:30 practice time and our practice is normally at Loyola Marymount University out here in the west part of Los Angeles so the team, we’re basically at Loyola at 8:30 or almost 9ish and guys are just getting taped or getting stretched and doing the pre-practice stuff. Coach Dunleavy, as we’re still gathered together, Coach Dunleavy and Gary Viti, they sorta bring everybody together and say ‘you guys come here for a moment, we need to head over to the Forum because we have a mandatory team meeting and there’s an announcement we need to talk about.’ Nothing was disclosed at that time so we basically left practice knowing that there was something or some news that we had to be a part of. We’re sorta thinking another press conference about who knows what? We weren’t too sure. On that drive over which was all of ten minutes, there was no inkling about what we were about to walk in on. As we walked into the locker room and we started to see some of our upper management and our owner then we knew that there was something big but we didn’t know exactly how big and of course the full impact of what we were about to hear.”

On how hard it was for him to be non-judgmental because he practiced abstinence until marriage:

“It’s a great question and I think even in that time Magic, as he made the announcement in the locker room to us, after he said what he did guys wanted to embrace him because we’re thinking of our friend, we’re thinking of our captain, we’re thinking of our leader so we wanted to embrace him and say ‘hey what do you need? How can I help you?’ Showtime was a team full of sacrifices, win at all cost first and foremost, and that’s what the idea was. So if anybody could’ve traded positions, we would have traded positions with him but we knew that still wasn’t going to solve the problem. That particular morning, the one thing that I will always remember, not just the announcement, but Magic asking me to come into one of our little private side rooms and saying I just need to get out of that atmosphere for a moment and let’s say a prayer. It wasn’t abnormal because he and I both had a common bond, a very religious background and upbringing through our parents so that was sort of a common thing for us. It was something that meant a whole lot to him. Away from that announcement, away from everyone amongst the team just to get a breather and connect with his faith and ask for some help from above. That factor plus the second factor of just how competitive and how much Magic wants to win, Earvin has always been I want to be first, I want to win. Not in a sense of it’s about him, but his competitive zeal is he wants his team to be first and the best. With that being said that’s why me personally, I sorta believed it when he said guys I’m gonna find a way to beat this, I’m gonna find a way to win and beat this thing. We all knew what we had heard, what the media had side outside of Earvin about the HIV virus, about AIDS, and everything along that line. So when he made that it didn’t seem impossible, it didn’t seem ridiculous to me because of those two other primary factors: his faith and his competitiveness to win.”

Whether or not he noticed guys acting different after Johnson’s announcement:

“I noticed that a lot of guys were more aware of what they were doing and thinking a little more responsibly about what they were thinking about doing or in the middle of doing. It brought a greater awareness to the world, to our profession. At that time, in the next month, condom sales through Trojan had reached an all-time high. There was a big, big impact of people thinking about okay if this can happen to him, is it possible this can happen to me?”

Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline 100% Barataria

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I had just finished O'level exams, meh moms, as single parent, did not stop wid de rant of me being careful not to be wild and impregnate people, she used de magic incident as an advertising piece, remember de announcement to dis day like it was yesterday.  Man still going strong in truth yes
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Offline weary1969

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I had just finished O'level exams, meh moms, as single parent, did not stop wid de rant of me being careful not to be wild and impregnate people, she used de magic incident as an advertising piece, remember de announcement to dis day like it was yesterday.  Man still going strong in truth yes

Boi I can tell yuh where I was when I got d news and d shock of hearing the news. Glad 2 know u listen 2 yuh moms.
Today you're the dog, tomorrow you're the hydrant - so be good to others - it comes back!"

Offline Blue

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AN HIV specialist told me that in certain populations, people being treated for HIV can actually have a longer life expectancy than the general population because of the high degree of medical scrutiny they undergo.

Offline doc

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HIV? What is that really?  :frustrated:
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truetrini

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HIV? What is that really?  :frustrated:

whappen yuh never went primary school or wha doc..HIV is 3 letters ah de alphabet!

Offline gawd on pitch

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AN HIV specialist told me that in certain populations, people being treated for HIV can actually have a longer life expectancy than the general population because of the high degree of medical scrutiny they undergo.

Steups, steups, steups. No disrespect. Watch this documentary: House of Numbers. Lots of scrutiny about the tests for HIV/AIDS. In fact no test for AIDS exists. Moreover, no test for HIV exists. The current test checks for antibodies. Meaning that if you were to take an HIV antibody test while recovering from any illness you could be diagnosed with HIV. From what I understand antibodies are not really distinguishable. There is more money in labeling someone with HIV/AIDS as opposed to other illnesses with similar symptoms i.e malaria, sarcoma, etc. AIDS and HIV is so lucrative that a cure will never be found.

truetrini

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AN HIV specialist told me that in certain populations, people being treated for HIV can actually have a longer life expectancy than the general population because of the high degree of medical scrutiny they undergo.

Steups, steups, steups. No disrespect. Watch this documentary: House of Numbers. Lots of scrutiny about the tests for HIV/AIDS. In fact no test for AIDS exists. Moreover, no test for HIV exists. The current test checks for antibodies. Meaning that if you were to take an HIV antibody test while recovering from any illness you could be diagnosed with HIV. From what I understand antibodies are not really distinguishable. There is more money in labeling someone with HIV/AIDS as opposed to other illnesses with similar symptoms i.e malaria, sarcoma, etc. AIDS and HIV is so lucrative that a cure will never be found.

fella, chill out..There is a test for a specific antibody.....go get yuh T cell count and see if yuh ok.

specific viral proteins are separated first and immobilized. then the lab sees if there is binding of serum antibodies to specific HIV proteins!   Is not just a test for antibodies...

blood cells that may be HIV-infected open up nad the proteins inside the cells are placed in a gel  Elecetrical current is then passed thru the gel.  Different proteins move with different speeds in this field, depending on their size, while their electrical charge is leveled by sodium lauryl sulfate.

They then check for viral bands...if no bands then yuh good..is ah negative.

if they find at keast one viral band for specific enzymes then is ah positive.

This is the western blot test and de only test dat is used in de usa.if they find one band or two bands they does re=test.

so again chill with de old talk,,,HIV is very real.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2011, 05:20:41 AM by truetrini »

Offline gawd on pitch

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AN HIV specialist told me that in certain populations, people being treated for HIV can actually have a longer life expectancy than the general population because of the high degree of medical scrutiny they undergo.

Steups, steups, steups. No disrespect. Watch this documentary: House of Numbers. Lots of scrutiny about the tests for HIV/AIDS. In fact no test for AIDS exists. Moreover, no test for HIV exists. The current test checks for antibodies. Meaning that if you were to take an HIV antibody test while recovering from any illness you could be diagnosed with HIV. From what I understand antibodies are not really distinguishable. There is more money in labeling someone with HIV/AIDS as opposed to other illnesses with similar symptoms i.e malaria, sarcoma, etc. AIDS and HIV is so lucrative that a cure will never be found.

fella, chill out..There is a test for a specific antibody.....go get yuh T cell count and see if yuh ok.

specific viral proteins are separated first and immobilized. then the lab sees if there is binding of serum antibodies to specific HIV proteins!   Is not just a test for antibodies...

blood cells that may be HIV-infected open up nad the proteins inside the cells are placed in a gel  Elecetrical current is then passed thru the gel.  Different proteins move with different speeds in this field, depending on their size, while their electrical charge is leveled by sodium lauryl sulfate.

They then check for viral bands...if no bands then yuh good..is ah negative.

if they find at keast one viral band for specific enzymes then is ah positive.

This is the western blot test and de only test dat is used in de usa.if they find one band or two bands they does re=test.

so again chill with de old talk,,,HIV is very real.

HIV has never been isolated. So how can they distinguish the HIV proteins from other proteins? 

Question

If you are HIV positive in South Africa will you be HIV positive in Australia, USA?

The answer is there is no consistency. Many countries use the Eliza and Western blot to determine HIV/AIDS. If you take the Western Blot in the USA you can go to Australia and take the same tests and get another result. That is the problem with the disease or virus. It changes depending on your passport. Last time I checked diabetes in the USA is diabetes in Australia, syphilis in USA is syphilis in Australia. Each country has a different definition of HIV. This goes against the conventions of SCIENCE.

I am not saying that HIV or whatever they want to call it is a total fable. But the methods used to determine it is very suspect. Especially, considering that more  people are practicing safe sex than they were 25 years ago. But for some reason the numbers of HIV/AIDS cases are rising. HIV is the only serious retrovirus/disease that has to go through some rather questionable processes for diagnosing. And it is the only virus/disease that has a political element. It is the only virus/disease that has not been found/isolated, but receives more funding globally than diabetes and heart disease.

If you look at any sub Saharan country that has a high numbers of HIV/AIDS, you will notice three things. First, before they had high numbers of HIV/AIDS, they had high numbers of Malaria. Second they are all poor countries. Third, they have the broadest definition of HIV/AIDS.

Now let me ask you a question, which illness receives more funding to combat its spread? HIV/AIDS or Malaria? HIV/AIDS of course. Which illness has traditionally killed Africans? Malaria. For poor African nations, the logic is simple turn Malaria numbers into HIV/AIDS numbers. There is more money/funding for calling Malaria HIV/AIDS instead of Malaria. 

Have you ever heard of a false positive? Look up what determines a HIV false positive. It is all social, political and economic factors. Not medical or scientific.

As you just witnessed True Trini, I never had to get into any "ad hominem" attacks (i.e go get a test) to make my points. I am not advocating against safe sex. Nor am I trying to issue a license for having unprotected sex. I do not need to be fearful of HIV/AIDS in order to protect myself. Hepatitis, Gonorrhea and child support is enough for me to put on a condom. I am conscious enough to see through the  establishments fear campaign. 

Offline doc

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AN HIV specialist told me that in certain populations, people being treated for HIV can actually have a longer life expectancy than the general population because of the high degree of medical scrutiny they undergo.

Steups, steups, steups. No disrespect. Watch this documentary: House of Numbers. Lots of scrutiny about the tests for HIV/AIDS. In fact no test for AIDS exists. Moreover, no test for HIV exists. The current test checks for antibodies. Meaning that if you were to take an HIV antibody test while recovering from any illness you could be diagnosed with HIV. From what I understand antibodies are not really distinguishable. There is more money in labeling someone with HIV/AIDS as opposed to other illnesses with similar symptoms i.e malaria, sarcoma, etc. AIDS and HIV is so lucrative that a cure will never be found.

fella, chill out..There is a test for a specific antibody.....go get yuh T cell count and see if yuh ok.

specific viral proteins are separated first and immobilized. then the lab sees if there is binding of serum antibodies to specific HIV proteins!   Is not just a test for antibodies...

blood cells that may be HIV-infected open up nad the proteins inside the cells are placed in a gel  Elecetrical current is then passed thru the gel.  Different proteins move with different speeds in this field, depending on their size, while their electrical charge is leveled by sodium lauryl sulfate.

They then check for viral bands...if no bands then yuh good..is ah negative.

if they find at keast one viral band for specific enzymes then is ah positive.

This is the western blot test and de only test dat is used in de usa.if they find one band or two bands they does re=test.

so again chill with de old talk,,,HIV is very real.

HIV has never been isolated. So how can they distinguish the HIV proteins from other proteins? 

Question

If you are HIV positive in South Africa will you be HIV positive in Australia, USA?

The answer is there is no consistency. Many countries use the Eliza and Western blot to determine HIV/AIDS. If you take the Western Blot in the USA you can go to Australia and take the same tests and get another result. That is the problem with the disease or virus. It changes depending on your passport. Last time I checked diabetes in the USA is diabetes in Australia, syphilis in USA is syphilis in Australia. Each country has a different definition of HIV. This goes against the conventions of SCIENCE.

I am not saying that HIV or whatever they want to call it is a total fable. But the methods used to determine it is very suspect. Especially, considering that more  people are practicing safe sex than they were 25 years ago. But for some reason the numbers of HIV/AIDS cases are rising. HIV is the only serious retrovirus/disease that has to go through some rather questionable processes for diagnosing. And it is the only virus/disease that has a political element. It is the only virus/disease that has not been found/isolated, but receives more funding globally than diabetes and heart disease.

If you look at any sub Saharan country that has a high numbers of HIV/AIDS, you will notice three things. First, before they had high numbers of HIV/AIDS, they had high numbers of Malaria. Second they are all poor countries. Third, they have the broadest definition of HIV/AIDS.

Now let me ask you a question, which illness receives more funding to combat its spread? HIV/AIDS or Malaria? HIV/AIDS of course. Which illness has traditionally killed Africans? Malaria. For poor African nations, the logic is simple turn Malaria numbers into HIV/AIDS numbers. There is more money/funding for calling Malaria HIV/AIDS instead of Malaria. 

Have you ever heard of a false positive? Look up what determines a HIV false positive. It is all social, political and economic factors. Not medical or scientific.

As you just witnessed True Trini, I never had to get into any "ad hominem" attacks (i.e go get a test) to make my points. I am not advocating against safe sex. Nor am I trying to issue a license for having unprotected sex. I do not need to be fearful of HIV/AIDS in order to protect myself. Hepatitis, Gonorrhea and child support is enough for me to put on a condom. I am conscious enough to see through the  establishments fear campaign.
So I ask again .... HIV? What is that?
Live large and prosper!

Offline Dutty

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Gonorrhea and child support is enough for me to put on a condom.   

 :rotfl: :rotfl:


btw I not quite understanding Doc question? ah feel  it like a venus flytrap
Little known fact: The online transportation medium called Uber was pioneered in Trinidad & Tobago in the 1960's. It was originally called pullin bull.

 

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