YouTube Gold: Magic Johnson Faces, And Triumphs Over HIV

A grim day followed by his most brilliant comeback

There are some moments in life that stop you in your tracks. For one generation, it was the death of FDR. For another, it was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. For many ACC fans, it was the death of Len Bias, who seemed so much like a Superman. And a few years later, it was the announcement by Magic Johnson that he had tested positive for HIV.

It was an indescribable moment.

In this video, we see Magic make his announcement and some of the reactions. On the positive side, his great rival and dear friend Larry Bird remained a loyal and loving friend.

On the other hand, a lot of people snubbed him. You’ll see here some painful comments about people who he thought were friends and what some of his family members went through.

It was a very, very difficult time for Johnson and those around him.

The man is nothing if not resilient though. He said in his announcement that he would “beat it,” but Karl Malone was probably typical of a lot of people when he said he saw Magic as a “dead man walking.”

He has beaten it though, or at least so far. At the time, AIDS was an absolute death sentence but Johnson was one of the first to benefit from new treatments and the better aspects of his character - his strong will, his competitive nature, his ability to take joy in life - helped him to prosper in spite of his dire diagnosis.

It’s been 33 years since he was diagnosed and Magic isn’t just still here, but last time we heard, the virus was undetectable in his blood stream and after some truly difficult times, he has absolutely thrived.