Original subtitles

Magic and Michael.

Four quarters a game, seven games, if necessary,

for the pro basketball title.

These are two masters of the game, Magic and Michael.

For all the marbles this time.

It was him and I.

This is the first time we were gonna face off against each other.

It's a showdown between two legends.

LA's Magic Johnson and Chicago's Michael Jordan.

If you're at the top of the mountain,

there's no way you want someone to push you off that mountain.

You gonna fight, you gonna fight until you get pushed off that mountain.

And that's where Magic was.

He was-- He was top of the mountain for me.

'Cause all your energy has been generated

just to try to beat one guy, beat that one guy.

As a competitor, I wasn't gonna give up the crown easily.

Listen, I knew in my heart who I was gonna marry.

I wasn't ready to be married, but I knew I would always marry Cookie.

Of course, you know, her mom, father and her friends all, you know, felt

that I wasn't probably the right guy for her. You know?

Because I kept breaking her heart.

But at the end of the day, I loved her so much.

I knew him well enough to know that it wasn't that he didn't love me.

It wasn't that.

In '91, when we played the Bulls,

She said to me,

"Hey, if we're gonna make it, I got to move out to LA."

I said, "I think that the problem is--

The reason why we can't get married is

'cause we're not even used to living in the same city."

All these years, it was long distance.

I said, "So we need to learn to live in the same city.

I'll only do it if I have a job and I have my own apartment,

you know, so I can still have my independence."

Some of us might have been a little upset that she was going back,

drinking the Kool-Aid again, you know? It's like…

"Don't you remember what happened before?"

That was the first year

that he invited me to go to the playoffs.

In all of the other championships that he played in, I was never there.

So finally, when they were in the championship against Chicago,

he allowed me to go.

I was super excited about the playoffs.

I mean, this was, you know, the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan.

I don't think we went through a season where we felt we weren't the best team.

I mean, that's just the arrogance and the confidence we had about our team.

And we went into Chicago feeling that way.

And the opening tip controlled by the LA Lakers

as Magic Johnson against Michael Jordan.

They were good. I mean, Chicago was good

but they had never been to the finals before.

If you've never been there, you don't know what it's like.

It's somewhat of a disadvantage.

This is the first time we had the chance to go against a juggernaut.

And we were nervous going into the game.

I was feeling good. We won game one.

A.C. Green back on the floor for the Lakers.

Magic.

We expect this. We're back in the finals.

This is what we do.

We win big games.

Game two. Let's go. Let's get it on right now.

And then they won four straight.

Final seconds. Magic's three-point attempt blocked.

Pippen comes away with it.

And the Chicago Bulls have won their first-ever NBA championship.

Magic's not gonna go down just to go down.

You have to go take something from him because he's been there many times before.

And, you know, we went, and we took it.

I tried to get to him on the floor, but I couldn't.

'Cause I wanted to congratulate him.

He came in our locker room, he gave me the biggest hug, you know?

He congratulated me, and he wished me well.

When he hugged me, he just started crying.

It was a beautiful moment for both of us to see the joy.

And I wanted to say, "Hey, congratulations on winning your first championship."

He didn't have to do it. You know? From a competitive standpoint.

But he understood what it meant.

He understood the respect of it,

that, okay, you entered into this club,

this Larry Bird, Magic Johnson club.

That shows the true champion that he really is.

Michael Jordan is the unanimous MVP.

Is there a feeling of a passing of the torch, Magic Johnson to you?

It was Michael Jordan saying,

"Hey, man. Why don't you hand over the baton?"

And Magic's like "I don't know. I don't know."

He was trying to hang on to it just a little bit longer.

I do have to admit it was their turn.

But, man, it's painful for me to lose.

I said, "Okay. We're gonna come back next year and win."

Even though we lost, for us it was a good thing.

That was a good experience

for him to understand that now you can invite me into this part of your life.

And then there was the pool party.

Well, you know, I was known for my parties now.

I had the best parties in Hollywood.

I mean, I had some incredible pool parties.

Everybody wanted to come to the pool parties, you know?

It was fun. It was exciting.

If you're married, you can get in trouble. If you're single, you can get in trouble.

A lot of the wives weren't happy that their husbands were there

and they weren't invited.

You know? You need to grow up.

You can't be-- You shouldn't be doing these things.

And I kept talking to him, going, "I can't believe you're doing it."

He's like, "I can't believe you're making a big deal over nothing."

So we had this huge fight again.

"Well, if you give this party, that's it."

I stood my ground, he stood his ground.

My head goes, "You don't want to be a part of this.

You don't want to go through this.

You know, maybe it's a sign.

He's not gonna change."

That was it. We were done.

I didn't think she would actually leave.

This stung me so bad.

After the season, I always used to go to the Bahamas

and go to sleep for a week

and let my body heal and my mind rest.

Cookie had been through a lot. No question about it.

But she deserved so much more.

She didn't deserve me asking her to marry me

and then breaking the engagement, what, three times.

She didn't deserve that. She was a better woman than that.

When you talk about soul mates…

She was the perfect woman for me.

And then my father called me up and told me,

he said, "Junior, you better marry that girl.

God blessed you with this woman, man.

You gonna make a mistake. The biggest mistake of your life."

Then I get a phone call.

He said, "I think I can do this."

I said, "Okay. The only way we can do this, if we--

When you get back, we fly directly to Vegas, get married,

and just get it over with."

I said, "I don't need a wedding."

At this point, I was just at my wit's end.

I said, "Let's do this."

She said, "I want a short engagement.

We got to do it now before you change your mind."

I said, "I am not changing my mind."

I remember thinking, "What if he doesn't show up?"

I'm still scared that he's not gonna go through with this

because he's done it so many times.

It's like that movie The Runaway Bride. He was the runaway groom.

My dress was almost two sizes too big for me

because I had lost so much weight from stress.

I was so nervous and, like, all my girlfriends were calming me down.

"He's coming, don't worry."

No laughing, no giggling.

No going "Hallelujah" when he says, "I now pronounce you man and wife."

Every time someone came in, I was like,

"Is he here yet? Is he here yet?"

At that point, we were kinda like, "Okay.

When we get there, if it's still on, it's still on."

-Right. Right. -You know? And then…

-And then it was. -It was. It was amazing.

I kept her waiting for a long time.

And to be at home in Michigan,

to have our family and friends and the whole state watching,

it was going to be great.

I was standing in the back of the church with my father,

and they opened the doors,

and I couldn't move.

'Cause I was still thinking, "What if?"

And my dad goes, "You okay? You gonna do this?"

Took a deep breath and walked down the aisle.

When I saw her looking so beautiful,

I just started crying.

It was a beautiful moment.

-Cookie looked like a princess. -Yeah, she did.

She's just beautiful. And Earvin even.

-You could almost see a… -Yeah, exhale.

Right. Right. Right.

Like, "I got her. Everything is right. It's all right."

I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the bride.

Knowing that now we are together

and we're going to build something together

was an awesome feeling.

Since we were going to Paris with the Lakers

to play some of the French teams,

we just said, "Hey, we might as well make that our honeymoon."

Last night. All right, I'll get it next time.

Cookie and I are doing some honeymooning, some sightseeing.

At night, we get to walk and really enjoy one another.

And it took us really back to, like, our college days.

I had gotten off the pill, you know, months ahead

because we were planning to get married, whatever.

While we were in Paris, I thought I saw some signs.

Maybe let's take a test.

But we couldn't read it 'cause it was in French.

So one of the maids came in to clean the room,

and I showed her the little stick,

and she-- I go…

And she goes, "Oui, oui!"

I was so happy because this is what we both wanted,

to have a kid together.

I finally got married to Cookie, and she's pregnant now.

And now it's time to start getting ready for the season.

Now the mission is to beat the Bulls.

We felt, "Man, this is-- This team we got right now--

Yeah, we'll be back in the finals."

So we're six games into an eight-game preseason.

We fly to Salt Lake. Go to the hotel.

I have these messages to call the office.

And I get on with Jerry, and it's, "Send Magic home."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you that, but we need him home."

"Now."

Jerry's never really, like, spoken to me that way.

Like "I know something that I want you to know."

So I say, "Okay." I call him.

I said, "Listen, you're going home."

And I say, "Well, okay. For what?"

And he said, "Well, I don't know. He just said you got to come home."

I said, "We're going home right after the game,

so why don't I see him tomorrow?"

He said, "No, you got to come home now."

I get a call from Dr. Mellman. He goes,

"He's got to come back from Utah." I go, "Why?" He goes, "I can't tell you."

"Earvin has to come home." "Can he play?" "Nope, can't play.

He's gotta come home. Can't participate.

I'll see him in my office when he gets here."

We're in Utah, and Magic's supposed to play.

And then we get to the arena, and Magic's not there.

They say he went back to LA.

Had the flu, had a cold. Something like that.

We already did his preseason physical exam.

Anything that would have come up

would have come up on his preseason physical exam.

Cancer? I mean, what's he got?

I went straight to Dr. Mellman's office.

So, I think his office was on the third floor.

It was like 5:30 at this point.

Nobody's in the waiting room.

And then Dr. Mellman opens up the door

and goes, "Hey, Earvin, why don't you come in?"

I can close my eyes and recreate what my office looked like

and where he and Lon sat.

Sat down and, you know,

I could tell something was wrong, 'cause he had a look on his face.

And he kind of opens up his desk drawer

and pulls out a FedEx envelope and pulls out the document.

And he…

And he said, "I got some unfortunate news that you have HIV."

I just sat there quiet.

I was in disbelief…

just stunned.

I said, "Are you sure?"

Once I got myself together, it was like,

"Okay, well-- So what does this mean?

Am I gonna die?"

And he said, "Well, we don't quite know yet."

"And, you know, these are my concerns.

I've got a wife. She's pregnant.

What do I tell her?"

We were gonna have this fairy-tale life,

and now I get this devastating news.

So I'm sitting here in this chair like, "Oh, my goodness.

How am I gonna go home and tell her this?"

I knew that this was going to destroy her, just hurt her.

I was home preparing to watch the game,

and the phone rang.

And it was Earvin.

He said, "I'm on my way home, and I'll tell you why when I get there."

I knew it had to be serious if he wasn't playing in that game.

It was an agonizing wait.

Probably the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life.

You know, to tell somebody that you love

and somebody who loves you…

When he walked in the door, he looked at me,

and he said, "We need to talk."

And he said, "I don't know any other way to say it but to say it.

I tested positive for the HIV virus, the virus that causes AIDS."

She just started crying and…

that just broke my heart.

You know? Just broke my heart.

"Oh, my God. Are you going to die?"

Everyone we've ever heard about died.

Then she, "Well, what does that mean for me?

What does that mean for the baby?" And I can't answer that.

Oh, my God. My baby.

What about my baby?

What's gonna happen to my baby?

I said, "Oh, no. No."

I said, "You gotta be kidding."

At that time, didn't nobody know.

All they knew, it was death.

We was getting ready to have dinner,

and I got my purse and got in my car.

And I just cried.

And I just prayed, and I cried, and I prayed.

It's like somebody hit me in the stomach with a rod.

We were all devastated, but to see my mom and my dad just hurt

was beyond anything that I could take.

And I said, "Lord, don't take my child.

Don't take my child, Lord. Please don't take him."

I cried. I just had to have a moment, you know, to myself.

And.

The phone rang. My mom was on the phone for a while.

And then she said, "Your dad wants to talk to you."

And I remember him just trying to explain it.

Like, "You know, I've contracted this HIV.

Doctors don't know a lot about it.

I'm gonna be okay."

Then talking to my mom. Just trying to figure it out, what it is.

You talk to doctors. Doctors are saying, "Spend as much time with him as you can

because he's not-- probably not gonna live more than a few years."

We got up the next morning, went to the doctor's office.

And he tested me.

It took days to get your results back.

That was agonizing, not knowing.

That was the worst time in my life,

just waiting and waiting and thinking…

about my parents, my brothers and sisters, my son Andre.

Do I have to get my affairs in order?

I thought I was facing death.

I didn't sleep. I was just thinking about…

"Is this the last time that she gonna be in my arms?"

Him and Cookie drove over.

They pull up, and the door opens.

Nothing but tears.

I mean, what do you say? What do you do?

And Earvin goes, "Okay, let's you and I go.

We'll go for a walk to the beach."

We just start walking, and he just starts talking.

And I was telling him, "If anything happens,

you know, you make sure you take care of my family."

"I guess I gotta stop playing basketball."

And at one point, he said, "I don't know if I want to live.

I might just end it. I might just--"

His blood was sent to a doctor, Dr. David Ho

at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Institute.

I got involved with HIV/AIDS way back in 1980.

I grew up in Los Angeles,

and ever since I was a teenager, I've been a Los Angeles Laker fan.

And so, who wouldn't know who Magic was?

He called, and he said, "Earvin's very ill.

His T cell count is 203."

At that point, you're on what's called "the line."

At 200, you're AIDS.

It was of great concern.

Obviously, that is near the limit

below which he would be prone to a number of infections.

And talked about life expectancy.

Two, three years at the most.

I wasn't optimistic

that a T cell count in the 200s would sustain him for another five years.

T cells help the immune system to respond to certain infections,

to make antibodies, to make other killer T cell responses.

So by depleting this cell population,

HIV sort of zeroes in on the orchestrator of the immune response.

And therefore, a person cannot control the assault

from the various pathogens that we have in our environment.

I have been involved in the response to this pandemic

literally since the first few weeks that we knew it was a new disease.

The advances over the last ten years in molecular biology

have allowed scientists here at the NIH

and in NIH-supported universities throughout the country

to be able to, as we call it, map the genome of the AIDS virus.

That was a critical time, 1991,

because we didn't have the optimal drugs then.

If you were diagnosed early, you could get lucky.

My advice was, let's use the current drugs to slow things down

to preserve your immune system as much as possible.

And a little bit down the line, there would be better drugs available.

We only had one drug at that time, AZT.

And you had to take five, three times a day.

So, it was taking its toll.

AZT caused a lot of nausea, vomiting, anemia.

What we didn't know was whether extreme physical exertion

that would take place in a professional athlete

would be harmful to his health.

Dr. Ho said, "He can't play basketball anymore.

You're done with basketball."

He didn't even tell his teammates.

So, Earvin, Cookie, and I spoke.

And first, Cookie was,

"We're not gonna go public with this.

We're just gonna say he's retiring from basketball."

I can handle, you know, fighting this thing one day at a time,

you know, with you privately,

but I was not okay with telling the entire world.

If you tell people, then people are gonna start treating us differently.

They're not gonna, you know, want us around.

They're gonna be scared to touch us. You know things like that.

You're supposed to be forthcoming with the press

and keep them apprised of what's going on.

You don't have to tell them everything that's going on.

But this was gonna be a national story, world story.

"What are we gonna say?"

Because everybody's asking me.

"We're gonna tell 'em that we have the flu."

In sports, it's opening night for the NBA.

The regular season tips off with 12 games.

And the big question is, can Air Jordan keep Chicago soaring?

Johnson appeared at practice two days ago

after missing the Lakers' first three games due to the flu.

He spoke to the press, saying he expects to be back in play soon.

You don't wanna pull something or hurt yourself

because you haven't been practicing.

So, since I haven't been practicing, I had to get some practice time in.

Make sure that I get in some kind of shape.

Looking around, I already--

-You feel better, man? -I feel better. I feel better.

-You playing tonight? -I gotta miss you tonight.

-You gonna miss me? -I'm gonna miss you tonight.

-Well, I see you Christmas. -…for tonight, man.

You got it. Man, how you doing, baby?

I mean, there was questions every day.

And as each day passed,

there were greater doubts about the flu story.

Eyebrows were raised among the media.

Wanting to be respectful

and wanting to believe everything that we were being told,

but also realizing, "Wait a minute."

We don't track down every single thing.

If somebody bruises a fingernail or something like that

or has a bad stomachache, we don't really think it's something else.

But there was more to this than met the eye.

People would kind of--

Just kind of whisper, and go, "No, no. I'm sure it's nothing."

I have to lie to my family.

I have to lie to my team, my head coach.

I had to lie to the world. Okay?

We lied to the entire world.

Every day I remember waking up with this fear, like,

"Oh, my God. Today, it's still here."

Every day, going, "Okay, but we gonna make it through this day.

With the Lord, we gonna make it through this day.

We got to have faith, and we can do this."

So we went back in to get the results.

I thought I was gonna pass out.

They said, "The good news is, you don't have it.

If you don't have it, the baby won't have it."

Man, I got those results back.

We both hugged each other.

And I went in the back…

and I cried like a baby, man.

I felt that I had something to live for.

Then I had to find somebody who's living with the disease

that could help me understand what my journey is gonna be now.

What is my everyday life going to be?

I am honored to introduce

a woman who has been an inspiration to millions,

who has been living with HIV for 11 years,

the cofounder of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser. Thank you.

I reached out to Elizabeth Glaser. I had read an article about her.

And I wanted Earvin to meet her.

Eleven years ago…

while giving birth to my first child,

I hemorrhaged and was transfused with seven pints of blood.

Four years later, I found out that I had been infected with the AIDS virus

and had unknowingly passed it to my daughter, Ariel,

through my breast milk,

and my son, Jake, in utero.

I was having a conversation with Lon,

really trying to decide what I was going to do,

discussing the pros and cons of coming out, not coming out…

telling the world.

I asked her. I said, "What should I do?" You know.

And she wanted-- She didn't even hesitate. "You should go public with it."

"I want you to become the face of the disease.

I want you to become a face of AIDS. We need a face."

When we were told our medical situation--

our family had three members who had AIDS or were infected with the HIV virus--

our doctor said, "Don't tell anyone. The world is not ready for your family."

She goes, "Magic Johnson's gonna save my son's life.

I'm not gonna live. My daughter's dead.

He's gonna save Jake's life.

He's gonna put a name and a face to this."

When we met her, she just gave us so much hope

just by being in her presence.

Because she was mad, and she was just like,

"Get involved as much as you can.

Get involved with them, you know, trying to find a cure.

Get involved with supporting people who have it.

You know, just, you know, get involved. You know, care."

I realized that God puts people in a position for a purpose.

And I believe his purpose was

to be the face of this thing and to be out there

and try to support and save as many people as possible.

So that night in my house on November 6th, we said,

"We're gonna do a press conference on Friday, November 8th.

We need a day to put it together."

Great. Done.

Gives Earvin time, gives us all time to properly plan this.

Normal day, right?

Get ready for a press conference the next day. I go to my office early.

And about 9:00 in the morning, I get a call from a local radio reporter,

and he says to me, "Lon, I have a report that Earvin has AIDS."

I got called into the News Director's office.

And the News Director says, "Okay, we have a tip.

Magic has HIV, and he's gonna retire."

Immediately I got on the phone.

I said, "Randy, please do not release this information.

I will call you back,

but please do not release this information."

"Tell me if there's anything to this."

And he didn't say no.

When that tip came in and it sounded so solid,

that explained a lot of things.

That explained why we aren't hearing anything about it.

Why everything is shrouded in mystery.

While I was in the car, we broke the story.

I felt like my world was coming to an end.

My friend is now gonna be public with this.

We're at Loyola, practicing,

and I get a call from Jerry West.

And Jerry says, "There's been a leak.

And there's been a radio personality reporting that Magic's HIV positive.

Get everybody out of the gym."

So Gary Vitti comes out in the middle of practice and says, "Look…

You guys get in your car and go straight to the Forum.

Don't stop. Don't talk to anybody."

I said, "Listen, cancel everything.

Meet back at the Forum.

What you hear today will change your life."

I go straight to the Forum.

They said, "Earvin's having a press conference. He'd like you to be there."

"Think you can come? It's really important."

They wouldn't tell me.

Eventually, everybody gets there,

and we go into the locker room.

I wasn't ready to retire.

I wasn't ready to say goodbye to them.

Probably the hardest part of all of this is knowing

that I wasn't gonna go to war with them no more.

He went around the room,

and he gave each guy a hug and whispered something in their ear.

You know, from his mouth to our ears, he told us everything that was happening.

There wasn't a dry eye in there.

It was stupefying, you know?

But I wanted to be there for him.

You know, he was always there for me.

We just could not believe what we were hearing.

We just sat there. Numb.

This is your brother.

You spent years and years with this person.

And you hear these words come out of someone in your family's mouth,

and it's devastating.

I started crying. I said, "Hey, how'd this happen?"

Most of us were thinking, "Death is coming."

It was just a numb feeling.

You hear about it on the news,

but you just don't expect it to be somebody

that you spend most of your time with, who's your family.

And…

then he went upstairs and told the world.

Okay, he's gonna come over here.

We are still waiting.

And obviously, the anticipation is getting worse and worse.

We would like to get an answer sooner or later.

Quickly tell us what is going on here.

It is a very tense place.

Laker front office. Jerry Buss, owner of the Lakers.

And here comes Magic Johnson toward the podium.

Let's go to Magic.

First of all, let me say good after-- late afternoon.

because of…

the HIV virus that I have attained,

I will have to retire from the Lakers, today.

I just want to make clear, first of all,

that I do not have the AIDS disease.

'Cause I know a lot of you are conce-- want to know that.

But the HIV virus…

I just want to say that I'm gonna miss playing.

And,

I will now become a spokesman for the HIV virus.

It's another challenge, another chapter in my life that--

It's like being-- Your back is against the wall.

And I think that you just have to come out swinging,

and I'm swinging.

We begin tonight with the fate of a single individual.

The basketball star Magic Johnson confirmed a short while ago…

The news is so shocking and so unexpected,

it is difficult to absorb it even as we report it.

The official word came moments ago.

The dazzling career of one of the world's best-known athletes is over.

He is only 32 years old.

People everywhere have been talking of little else

than basketball superstar Magic Johnson.

Magic called me and told me of the news.

And I was just like most people in America.

I was very shocked devastated about it.

You know, just out the blue something like that happening. It just--

Yesterday was just a sad day.

I know he's not dead, but it's kinda like somewhat of a death of a brother,

a death in the family.

I remember just sitting in my office crying.

Bewildered. I remember bursting into tears, you know?

Just 'cause we all thought it was a death sentence.

He is alive but not very well right now.

And, you know, we do not, you know, want to eulogize him.

It was heartbreaking.

Not just because of

his extraordinary basketball career,

but also because of the joy and infectious sort of smile,

had become a staple of our culture.

There are a lot of people who want to be your friend

when you're standing underneath the basket making assists and throwing sweet passes.

But this when you find out who your true friends are.

If he truly wants to be an educator, it will be appropriate for him,

not in some tabloid sense, not in some inappropriately prying sense,

but in some way, it will be appropriate for him to discuss his sexual history

and to address how he may have contracted AIDS.

How did he get it?

Why is that so important? What does it matter how anyone got it?

We judge people with HIV based on how they got it.

Up till now, it's always been thought of in this country

as a gay or intravenous drug user disease.

Curiosity about people with AIDS

has often been limited to one hostile question:

How did they get it?

Johnson talks about his lifestyle and says,

"I did my best to accommodate as many women as I could,

most of them through unprotected sex."

Isn't there a moral message,

and isn't that the prevention message that he should be carrying?

When I find out he got AIDS,

I guess I ain't gonna be wearing that shirt no more.

I had to come to grips with saying, "Hey, this is a part of it."

I can't… be upset,

even though I was.

It was like, "What do I do with myself sitting around on this couch?"

And I remember thinking, "This isn't you."

Three of eight shooting for Larry. Three--

This is not the same basketball team, you know, when Magic was running the show.

There's no question about it.

I'm sitting here having this pity party.

And then I needed to feel the love too.

You know, you needed something to also make you feel better

about your new status of living with HIV.

No one is saying exactly how Magic was infected with the virus,

but the point now is that he intends to do something about it

by becoming a spokesman for AIDS research and the safe sex movement.

And that begins tonight,

when he'll appear on The Arsenio Hall Show.

Phone rings, I pick it up, and it's Magic.

So he said, "I should come on the show tonight and talk to America."

I said, "Yo, shouldn't we do this at Larry King?"

And he said, "No. You gotta do this.

We gotta do this."

"You gotta help me live forever." I never forgot that sentence.

"You gotta help me live forever."

And he came out.

I just remember how long the ovation was.

Man.

I needed to hear the roar of the crowd one more time.

And I heard it.

I needed something to make me feel better about my new status,

living with HIV.

And Arsenio gave that to me.

Man, it made me feel so much better.

That I was gonna be okay.

I didn't wanna do it

because I knew there were questions that I was supposed to ask Earvin.

And as a friend, I didn't wanna ask him.

But he told me,

"Don't hold anything back.

Ask every question that you would ask if it was someone else other than me."

Obviously, there are people who, in the back of their mind,

think that this might be a homosexual relationship disease.

He looked me right in the eyes, and he said,

"I have to tell as many people as possible

because people think that this is just a gay disease.

They don't think anybody else can catch this disease or get this disease."

President Bush has invited Magic to join the National Commission on AIDS.

Johnson is mulling over the offer and has yet to make up his mind.

I wrote him a letter, a personal letter some time ago

and said that I recognize

there are all kinds of opportunities now to serve mankind

and I'd love to have him on this commission.

So, I flew out to DC and met with President Bush,

and I decided to join.

Well, there's money, funding here, prevention, research, care.

So I'ma come at him with figures and numbers

that will probably blow his mind.

The first thing I wanted to do was to educate myself more

about not only the disease

but also how has it been affecting the Black community.

It was a new mantle Earvin "Magic" Johnson wore into this hall.

Not of the LA Laker megastar he was,

but of the National Aids Commissioner he now is.

We don't have a voice, Magic.

We don't have anybody to stand up for us and speak about things in our lives.

We need you.

It was a much different time, 1991.

There were people who wouldn't shake Earvin's hand, wouldn't give him a hug.

I now hear you can get it from toilet seats.

-Do you ever worry about it? -I just think it's not gonna happen to me.

We have to put aside prejudice for people who are infected.

We have to look at it for what it is.

It's an infection that can be transmitted

in certain ways that we're absolutely certain

and certain ways it cannot be transmitted that we're absolutely certain.

And we have to keep drilling that home to the people of this country.

You know, I was getting smarter.

I was getting better.

I felt I needed to get out.

People wanna help.

And they've said, "We're gonna raise a lot of money,

and we want you to help educate people about HIV and AIDS

as well as raise the awareness level."

I was always a person who was out anyway,

so I wasn't gonna let HIV stop me from being a person out in the public.

He's always been aware of who Earvin was and also who Magic was.

So he's always been aware that this was a unique opportunity

for him to take advantage of his status

and also to live up to some responsibilities,

being Magic Johnson as opposed to Earvin.

There were people who wanted more,

who wanted to-- who wanted the story.

And he owned up to his lifestyle.

Women have different fantasies. Some want to be with two, three at a time.

You know, one time I had six at one time. That's just--

-Six women? -Six women.

If you ask me if I had fun, yes, I had fun.

But… you pay for it.

Did you know about all these other women?

Not really. I mean, it was one of those things where--

We had a long-distance relationship

-for a long time. -'Cause you were in--

So it was one of those things where you really couldn't expect…

-Him to… -Yeah.

And being in LA and being, you know, who he is.

I never really did get angry.

I guess 'cause my emotions went from fear of dying

to, "Okay, we can breathe a little bit."

But just day by day, figuring this thing out.

When they told us about how we need to keep Earvin healthy,

you know, it has a lot to do with your immune system.

And so he made sure he kept his workout regimen.

I'm running and lifting in the morning.

I'm finding gyms to rent out,

UCLA, Sports Club/LA, on the weekends, late at night.

So, I'm like--

I'm playing, like, almost seven days a week.

Wait--

And still, you wanted to do anything and everything to educate people.

Most people are scared to really talk about AIDS.

And that's what's keeping the ignorance alive.

Magic Johnson, I think, did more than anybody else

to finally break the stigma.

'Cause the country loved him and respected him.

And because they could see that he was still fighting.

What kind of charisma does Earvin "Magic" Johnson have

on the American basketball public?

Consider this.

He retires last November 7th, when he tested positive for the HIV virus.

And yet, when the All-Star fan balloting is announced today,

he comes in second amongst Western Conference guards.

The All-Star game was coming up.

Earvin was leading the vote

but he wasn't sure if the NBA would let him play.

Some players were skittish

about playing against him

because they were afraid, if there was a cut or something,

that they might get infected.

There is fear, anxiety and questions from all corners,

including those athletes who participate on the professional level.

There was some swirl around this of potential boycotts

and lawsuits and other things.

I think the stakes were even higher than I understood at the time.

A basketball game is incredibly violent. The collisions, the contact, the bl--

There's blood everywhere.

And I wouldn't wanna be out there playing against someone who was HIV positive.

Look at every NBA player's hands.

They're full of nicks, scars and cuts from fingernails

and all the times that you've slammed into somebody's mouth with your elbow.

And you're bleeding, he's bleeding.

Things can happen to you even if it's-- the possibilities are small.

It was a concern that a lot of players had.

But he was a friend to me, and I wanted to play against him.

You know, I've always welcomed

the opportunity to play against Magic Johnson.

He did a Nickelodeon special with children.

I remember things started,

and there was a number of kids there that had AIDS.

My message to them, that it can happen to you.

And I'm a prime example of that.

And it's happened because I had unprotected sex.

You wanted to say something?

That I want people to know that we're just normal people.

Uh-uh, you don't have to cry.

You don't have to cry.

'Cause we are normal people. We are.

And you just wanna be treated like that, right?

You just want your friends to play with you

and call you up and come by

and still have sleepovers and things like that?

Right? Yeah.

And it's okay to cry. It's okay to cry.

I didn't know it was as bad for him as it was for everybody else.

He had people who didn't wanna be his friend

and didn't wanna have anything to do with him. And I was just like,

"That's Magic Johnson."

Like, how can you be that mean to somebody?

When Magic was diagnosed with HIV,

I think David took it on as a cause.

This is a very courageous, heroic person and a heroic act.

And we all pledged our support to him.

In addition to wanting to be there for Magic,

he saw this for the larger societal implications it represented

in terms of what was then enormous prejudice.

It's about our game.

But it's also about our humanity, and it's about our Magic.

And so, without asking for too many opinions,

'cause I was afraid that I might get too many,

I said, "That's it. He's in."

Magic Johnson retired from the Lakers because of the AIDS virus,

but he now says he'll play in the NBA All-Star game next month.

There is little doubting what this game means to any player,

especially the first-timers and rookies.

But the magic of this moment is Earvin's,

a great of the game

who fans feel they can just reach out and touch.

Sunday can't come soon enough for number 32.

Once I get out there,

things will take care of themselves, though, once you hit the court.

You know, basketball will never leave me.

I called the commissioner, and I said, "Commissioner Stern,"

I said, "Listen, you got all these activities going on

in the Orlando arena,

but I need to go in there and shoot."

He said, "Earvin, the arena won't even be free

until, like, 11:00 or 12:00 at night."

I said, "I'm going at 11:00 or 12:00 at night then."

So I went in there, and I shot for hours.

Then when we got to Orlando…

there was a large sector of players saying that they were gonna boycott.

And they wasn't gonna play in the game.

I called a meeting, and I stood up in front of the other 23 players,

and I said, "This is not gonna be a vote…

but Magic's gonna play in this game.

And we're going to embrace him.

And not only are we gonna embrace him, but we're gonna welcome him."

I thought it was a big moment.

And I wanted all the players to not only shake his hand

but to hug him.

Making his 12th All-Star game appearance,

Earvin "Magic" Johnson!

Number 42 on the way, and Magic touches it first.

Magic!

We just started off playing easy, you know.

And Dennis Rodman bodychecked me so much,

it actually helped the other guys say,

"Okay. Dennis is playing him hard. We going at it."

All the stuff went away.

And now, I'm in my element.

I got the no-look passes going.

Another great pass.

I got that hook going. I got the drives going.

You put that ball in my hand, I know what to do with it.

And I'm into my game, and it was just fun.

I said, "Wow, I miss this."

Magic Johnson.

It didn't matter who was in front of me.

I just had a feeling that I couldn't miss.

And Johnson! Two in a row for Magic.

He's going for the MVP.

I'll never forget the ending.

Three-pointer. Is it? It is! All right!

There was still time on the clock, and all the players just ran on the court.

Man, that was the greatest feeling in the world.

I mean, they were saying, "That's it. The game is over.

The show has ended."

Magic, you're the most valuable player.

You're a most courageous person.

The moment is yours. Congratulations.

Commissioner David Stern and I, with that game,

changed the conversation

about HIV and AIDS around the world.

That one game changed everything for HIV and AIDS.

Magic gave confidence to those who were also afflicted with the disease

that this wasn't a death sentence,

that they should put pressure on government

and on the medical establishment to take this disease seriously.

Putting the commission together was really good.

But there wasn't enough resources behind the commission.

People who were running the commission, heart wasn't in it.

They were really focused in on the white community

and not the Black and brown community.

The AIDS rate in America is growing fastest among minorities.

The reason why people in our community are suffering from this

is because there is a lack of health care services.

The government feels like, "These people can be pushed off to the side

'cause we don't need them anyway".

He reached a point where he felt things were not going quickly enough.

They weren't having as much influence as they should.

I had this battle with the White House.

I said, "If I'm going to really make a difference,

I gotta jump off of this commission and really get on the ground."

Magic Johnson said today he is quitting the Presidential Commission on AIDS,

and he accuses the Bush administration of utterly ignoring its work.

Finally, I just said, "You know what? I'm just gonna be Earvin Johnson.

I'm just gonna do me and do my thing."

He started his own foundation, the Magic Johnson Foundation.

Our mission statement was to bring about awareness for HIV and AIDS

and to also support HIV clinics and things like that.

Sir, you got the Laker hat on and everything.

Yeah. Yeah.

The stars turned out in Inglewood, California, today

to honor Magic Johnson and raise money for AIDS education and research.

I'm playing basketball.

I'm not in the NBA. I could if I wanted to play.

But right now, I'm happy traveling around the world,

not only playing basketball,

but I'm also educating people about HIV and AIDS.

Everyone is wondering, will he or won't he play again?

The Lakers retiring his number 32.

Now, the operative words here being "number 32" and not his body.

Magic, again, refusing to slam the door shut

on his playing days in the NBA.

I hope that if I do decide to come back,

you won't be upset if we did this all over again.

And then the greatest thing happened,

which was the Dream Team.