Twenty years go, today, Magic Johnson gave his shocking public announcement to the world that he was HIV positive. Before Magic gave his statement his agent Lon Rosen told Johnson to tell the public it was HIV, not AIDS. The crowd was silent and he began to speak these words, "Because of the HIV virus that I have attained, I will have to retire from the Lakers today". Silence was spread throughout the audience and everyone around the world was shocked. This was one of the biggest press conferences in sport. It could be compared to the day John F. Kennedy was shot or when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. This moment left an imprint in American history and sport history. Magic Johnson smiled as he always did in tough moments and was able to control this disease when most people considered it a death threat at the time. It is great to see Magic Johnson still going strong today and being a spokesperson for HIV/AIDS but it is heartbreaking that his disease cut him down in the prime of his career. Hopefully he will continue to live a long, great life.
*http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/magic111107/remember-magic-johnson-hiv-announcement-20-years-later
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