ESPN Films the Announcement: 5 Things We Learned About Magic Johnson's HIV Saga

There are certain moments in every generation that are "where were you when..." moments. For my grandparents' generation, one of those moments was when they found out about Pearl Harbor. For my parents one was when JFK was assassinated. For my generation, one of those moments was when Magic Johnson made The Announcement, the subject of the ESPN documentary. 

It was about more than just Magic Johnson; it was about a disease which in so many ways affected the entire world. Even though it was having such a huge impact on the world, it was a disease we wanted to hide from, as though it were some sort of black sheep of our family. 

When Magic Johnson made his announcement it didn't just bring the disease into the mainstream consciousness; it shocked our culture with it. And when it did we learned five things. 

1. It's a "People's Disease"

We learned first and foremost that it's a "people's disease." We always tried to dish it off as a "gay disease" or a "drug user's disease". We were a judgmental society. 

When Magic Johnson made his announcement he was someone we wanted to be, not someone we didn't want to be. It was almost impossible to describe the shock I felt when I heard the words come out of his mouth, "Because of the HIV virus I have attained, I will have to retire from the Lakers." 

The disease and the person did not mesh. AIDS meant being emaciated and weak, not being one of the world's greatest athletes. 

Suddenly it wasn't a disease that you only contracted through "immoral" means. It was a disease anyone could get. 

I have no research to back this up, but it's my guess that no single thing had a bigger impact on the research into prolonging life for AIDS patients than Magic Johnson's announcement. 

2. The Difference Between Being HIV Positive and Having Aids

There was a common, near universal misconception (and perhaps there still is to some degree), that if you were HIV positive that meant you had AIDS. It's possible to have the virus but have it be latent. You can be HIV positive but not have the disease. Magic Johnson was positive yet did not have the AIDS disease.

That you could be HIV positive yet not have the disease did a huge amount for testing. People were both less afraid of testing because a positive test didn't seem to be a death sentence and more conscientious about testing as they realized they could be passing it on to other people. 

Somehow, in one fell swoop both the shame and the fear of being tested for HIV were removed. 

3. It Can't be Contracted Through Casual Contact

If you weren't very old then you might not know that there weren't always rules about stopping bleeding on the court. After Johnson's announcement there were a lot of players wondering if they could have been infected by playing against Magic. The league passed the rules about stopping bleeding to allay those fears. 

During the months that followed so much was cleared up about how HIV could and could not be spread. Because it was now a disease that struck home, people were not shying away from the knowledge of what could and couldn't cause it. 

4. There is Hope for Those Who Have It

At the time the announcement was made it was a death sentence to have AIDS. To live with the disease for more than a couple of years was almost unheard of. 

Yet here we are 20 years later and Magic Johnson is not only still alive and kicking, he's looking as healthy as you could hope for a man of 52. His prolonged life and health with the disease has been an encouragement to many with it that AIDS does not have to be a death sentence. 

Johnson is not the only one to live so long with it, but he is by far the most famous.

5. Magic Was the "Right Person" to Get It

Magic Johnson once told his trainer, Gary Vetti, "When God gave me this disease, he gave it to the right person." Whether "God" gave it to him is a bit of a debate, but the "right person" part of it is not. Johnson has done more with the disease and because of it to help the cause of it than anyone could have expected or believed.

The things beyond his athleticism and court vision that made him such a great player made him a great man, and he took on the cause the way a great man would. Rather than retreat into hiding Johnson stepped forward and took on the disease and the misconceptions surrounding it as though it was the "Boston Celtics" of all diseases. 

He started the Magic Johnson Foundation to raise awareness and spoke out against it. In 1999 he was the main speaker for the United Nations at the World Aids Day Conference in 1999. Without Johnson contracting the disease, there is no telling how much further behind the world would have fallen in combating the disease.