Does Magic Johnson Have Aids?

Is Magic Johnson Cured From Aids?

If Magic Johnson had known just how well he could live with HIV, he wouldn't have retired from the Lakers on Nov. 7, 1991.  Johnson would never change what he did for the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic when he publicly revealed his diagnosis to a stunned world. His courage that day, along with two subsequent decades of vibrant living, forever altered attitudes about the virus and its effects.

Magic is simply glad the world knows such happy endings are possible with access to treatment and vigilance.

"At that time, it was the right decision," Johnson said Monday on the 20th anniversary of his stunning retirement. "If I knew what I knew today, that I could still play basketball and do my thing, I probably wouldn't have retired. But I'm a guy that doesn't have regrets. I don't look back. I'm happy, because I wanted to be here a long time. We made the right call at that time."

Johnson recognized the occasion at Staples Center on Monday with an upbeat celebration and a message of steadfastness. Dozens of politicians, celebrities and Lakers greats from Jerry West and Pat Riley to James Worthy and Michael Cooper joined Johnson and AIDS researcher David Ho for a luncheon, and the Magic Johnson Foundation announced a $1 million gift to continue its mission for worldwide HIV awareness and testing.

Two decades after his shocking admission and quick retirement at 32, Johnson's doctors say he's a 52-year-old specimen of health, comfortably managing HIV with a daily regimen of drugs and exercise.

While he once took upwards of 15 pills several times a day, he now requires just a few daily medications. He rises around 5 a.m. each day for a vigorous workout – everything from stretching and running to Tae Bo – before spending his days overseeing his large business empire.

Yet Johnson worries his strong health could encourage complacency, and he sees the anniversary of his historic announcement as a call to renew dedication to the cause.

"I often say I'm good for the virus, and bad for it," Johnson said. "Good because I'm doing well, and that I can go out and try and raise the awareness level, get people to go get tested ... but on the flip side of that, people see that I'm doing well, so they've kind of relaxed on HIV and AIDS. People think that now if they get the virus, they'll do well, but a couple million will die this year."

While Johnson mostly remembers a feeling of confidence derived from the unflinching support of his wife, Cookie, on the day of his announcement, his fellow Lakers have no trouble recalling the shock and confusion they felt 20 years ago.

"It stunned me, and I think I was only semi-conscious," Lakers owner Jerry Buss said. "The whole day is just like a blur in my mind. I remember Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) had to assist me. I don't think I had enough blood in the brain."

Worthy remembers the Lakers being sent from practice at Loyola Marymount to the Forum, with no idea why. The power forward wondered whether West was retiring from his executive job, or perhaps Johnson was seriously injured after missing the previous week of practice.

"When he announced, it was a reality check, because at that time, it could have been anybody," Worthy said. "A lot of people started to wonder about themselves, especially people who had never been tested before. ... He's taught us all a valuable lesson. Back in the early `90s, you thought it was a death (sentence). You thought it was over. To see him put meaning on a disease that only had one meaning, that was great."

Ho, a pioneering researcher who grew up in Los Angeles idolizing West and Elgin Baylor, said he met Johnson "on one of his darkest days" after his diagnosis. Ho has always been impressed by Johnson's upbeat willingness to acknowledge his condition, using himself to raise funds for research and treatment.

Ho also shot down the long-held suspicion that Johnson easily managed the virus because his wealth and celebrity gave him access to preferential treatment. Johnson's condition is "quite typical" at this point in the virus' treatment, he said.

"All of us working in the field are grateful to him and his foundation for doing so, because this is a plague that continues to rage," Ho said. "Because of therapeutic success, there is too much complacency in this country about this pandemic. We still need to develop new and better drugs. We have drugs that control HIV, but we don't have a cure, so research must continue."

Johnson famously couldn't stay away from basketball after his retirement, spreading the truth about HIV transmission to players and fans who sometimes balked at his participation. He was the MVP of the 1992 All-Star game and won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics before briefly coaching the Lakers in 1994 and returning to the court for 32 games in 1996, finally retiring in uniform.

Johnson is now a hugely successful businessman, a basketball commentator, a doting husband and a grandfather to his son Andre's two children. Yet he's still raising money and awareness, always working to create the same limitless future for others.

"The only problem is, I would be happier if the numbers in the black and brown communities would go down," Johnson said, citing the majority of each year's 60,000 new U.S. cases of HIV in minority communities. "There's been millions of people that have died since I announced 20 years ago, and so this is a bittersweet day. Yes, I'm living, but people are still getting this virus even as we speak. We must change the mindset, and we must do a better job educating those who live in urban America about this disease."

Sources: Huffingtonpost.com

Magic Johnson Career Stats during His Remarkable NBA Career

 REGULAR SEASON AVERAGES

SEASON	TEAM	GP	GS	MIN	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	BLK	STL	PF	TO	PTS
'79-'80	LAL	77	0	36.3	6.5-12.3	.530	0.1-0.4	.226	4.9-6.0	.810	2.2	5.6	7.8	7.3	0.5	2.4	2.8	4.0	18.0
'80-'81	LAL	37	0	37.1	8.4-15.9	.532	0.1-0.5	.176	4.6-6.1	.760	2.7	5.9	8.6	8.6	0.7	3.4	2.7	3.9	21.6
'81-'82	LAL	78	77	38.3	7.1-13.3	.537	0.1-0.4	.207	4.2-5.6	.760	3.2	6.4	9.6	9.5	0.4	2.7	2.9	3.7	18.6
'82-'83	LAL	79	79	36.8	6.5-11.8	.548	0.0-0.3	.000	3.8-4.8	.800	2.7	5.9	8.6	10.5	0.6	2.2	2.5	3.8	16.8
'83-'84	LAL	67	66	38.3	6.6-11.6	.565	0.1-0.4	.207	4.3-5.3	.810	1.5	5.9	7.4	13.1	0.7	2.2	2.5	4.6	17.6
'84-'85	LAL	77	77	36.1	6.5-11.7	.561	0.1-0.5	.189	5.1-6.0	.843	1.2	5.0	6.2	12.6	0.3	1.5	2.0	4.0	18.3
'85-'86	LAL	72	70	35.8	6.7-12.8	.526	0.1-0.6	.233	5.3-6.0	.871	1.2	4.7	5.9	12.6	0.2	1.6	1.8	3.8	18.8
'86-'87	LAL	80	80	36.3	8.5-16.4	.522	0.1-0.5	.205	6.7-7.9	.848	1.5	4.8	6.3	12.2	0.5	1.7	2.1	3.8	23.9
'87-'88	LAL	72	70	36.6	6.8-13.8	.492	0.2-0.8	.196	5.8-6.8	.853	1.2	5.0	6.2	11.9	0.2	1.6	2.0	3.7	19.6
'88-'89	LAL	77	77	37.5	7.5-14.8	.509	0.8-2.4	.314	6.7-7.3	.911	1.4	6.4	7.8	12.8	0.3	1.8	2.2	4.1	22.5
'89-'90	LAL	79	79	37.2	6.9-14.4	.480	1.3-3.5	.384	7.2-8.1	.890	1.6	5.0	6.6	11.5	0.4	1.7	2.1	3.7	22.3
'90-'91	LAL	79	79	37.1	5.9-12.4	.477	1.0-3.2	.320	6.6-7.3	.906	1.3	5.7	6.9	12.5	0.2	1.3	1.9	4.0	19.4
'95-'96	LAL	32	9	29.9	4.3-9.2	.466	0.7-1.8	.379	5.4-6.3	.856	1.3	4.5	5.8	6.9	0.4	0.8	1.5	3.2	14.6
Career		906	763	36.7	6.9-13.2	.520	0.4-1.2	.303	5.5-6.5	.848	1.8	5.5	7.3	11.2	0.4	1.9	2.3	3.9	19.5

REGULAR SEASON TOTALS
SEASON	TEAM	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	OR	DR	REB	AST	BLK	STL	PF	TO	PTS
'79-'80	LAL	503-949	.530	7-31	.226	374-462	.810	166	430	596	563	41	187	218	305	1387
'80-'81	LAL	312-587	.532	3-17	.176	171-225	.760	101	219	320	317	27	127	100	143	798
'81-'82	LAL	556-1036	.537	6-29	.207	329-433	.760	252	499	751	743	34	208	223	286	1447
'82-'83	LAL	511-933	.548	0-21	.000	304-380	.800	214	469	683	829	47	176	200	301	1326
'83-'84	LAL	441-780	.565	6-29	.207	290-358	.810	99	392	491	875	49	150	169	306	1178
'84-'85	LAL	504-899	.561	7-37	.189	391-464	.843	90	386	476	968	25	113	155	305	1406
'85-'86	LAL	483-918	.526	10-43	.233	378-434	.871	85	341	426	907	16	113	133	273	1354
'86-'87	LAL	683-1308	.522	8-39	.205	535-631	.848	122	382	504	977	36	138	168	300	1909
'87-'88	LAL	490-996	.492	11-56	.196	417-489	.853	88	361	449	858	13	114	147	269	1408
'88-'89	LAL	579-1137	.509	59-188	.314	513-563	.911	111	496	607	988	22	138	172	312	1730
'89-'90	LAL	546-1138	.480	106-276	.384	567-637	.890	128	394	522	907	34	132	167	289	1765
'90-'91	LAL	466-976	.477	80-250	.320	519-573	.906	105	446	551	989	17	102	150	314	1531
'95-'96	LAL	137-294	.466	22-58	.379	172-201	.856	40	143	183	220	13	26	48	103	468
Career		6211-11951	.520	325-1074	.303	4960-5850	.848	1601	4958	6559	10141	374	1724	2050	3506	17707

Glossary

• MIN: Minutes
• PTS: Points
• FGM-A: Field Goals Made-Attempted
• FG%: Field Goal Percentage
• 3PM-A: 3-Point Field Goals Made-Attempted
• 3P%: 3-Point Field Goal Percentage
• FTM-A: Free Throws Made-Attempted

• FT%: Free Throw Percentage
• OR: Offensive Rebounds
• DR: Defensive Rebounds
• REB: Rebounds
• AST: Assists
• BLK: Blocks
• STL: Steals

• PF: Personal Fouls
• TO: Turnovers
• DBLDBL: Double Doubles
• TRIDBL: Triple Doubles
• DQ: Disqualifications
• EJECT: Ejections
• TECH: Technical Fouls

• FLAG: Flagrant Fouls
• AST/TO: Assists Per Turnovers
• STL/TO: Steals Per Turnovers
• RAT: NBA Rating
• SCEFF: Scoring Efficiency
• SHEFF: Shooting Efficiency

More Magic Johnson Career Statistics


Sources: Espn.go.com

Magic Johnson Fast Facts and Profile 

Name: Earvin Johnson, Jr..
Position: Guard
Nickname: Magic
Born: August 14, 1959
Status: Retired as player (11/07/91); Activated as player (01/29/96); Inducted into the NBA Hall Of Fame 09/27/2002; Retired as player (05/14/96), Retired as Coach
Origin: Lansing, Michigan, USA
Height: 6-9/2,06m
Weight: 255lbs/111kg
Schools: Everett (Lansing), Michigan State '79
Drafted: 1979, First Round, First pick overall by the Los Angeles Lakers
Languages: English
Teams (jersey): Michigan State University, Los Angeles Lakers (32), USA National Team (1992's Dream Team)

Magic Johnson NBA Position

"Few athletes are truly unique, changing the way their sport is played with their singular skills. Earvin "Magic" Johnson was one of them.

Just how great a basketball player was Johnson? So great, perhaps, that future generations of hoop fans may wish they had entered the world years earlier -- just so they could have seen Magic play in person instead of watching him only on highlight reels. He was what Bob Cousy was to the 1950s, what Oscar Robertson was to the 1960s, what Julius Erving was to the 1970s.

Still, Earvin Johnson was even more than a revolutionary player, who, at 6-9, was the tallest point guard in league history. His sublime talent elicited wonder and admiration from even the most casual basketball fan.

Whether it was a behind-the-back pass to a streaking James Worthy, a half-court swish at the buzzer or a smile that illuminated an arena, everyone who saw Johnson play took with them an indelible memory of what they had witnessed. From the moment he stepped onto the court, people pondered: How could a man so big do so many things with the ball and with his body? It was Magic.


Johnson accomplished virtually everything a player could dream of during his 13-year NBA career, all of which was spent with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a member of five championship teams. He won the Most Valuable Player Award and the Finals MVP Award three times each. He was a 12-time All-Star and a nine-time member of the All-NBA First Team. He surpassed Robertson's career assists record, a mark he later relinquished to John Stockton. He won a gold medal with the original Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

His all-around play inspired the addition of the term "triple-double" to basketball's lexicon, although history demands that Robertson be recognized as the first man to regularly post double figures in three statistical categories in the same game. Unfortunately for the Big O, nobody had thought of the term triple-double back in the 1960s.

Johnson did all of this while maintaining a childlike enthusiasm born of a pure love of sport and competition. Beyond all the money, success and fame, Johnson was just happy to be playing basketball.

If there was one aspect of Johnson's game that awed people the most, it was his brilliant passing skills. He dazzled fans and dumbfounded opponents with no-look passes off the fastbreak, pinpoint alley-oops from halfcourt, spinning feeds and overhand bullets under the basket through triple teams. When defenders expected him to pass, he shot. When they expected him to shoot, he passed."

Sources: www.interbasket.net

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