Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV?

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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#21 » by Pinkyring » Sun May 24, 2020 8:28 am

axeman23 wrote:Yeah, at the time the line in most people's minds between HIV and AIDS were much more blurred, and it was widely viewed as somewhat of a death sentence, as others have mentioned. As far as other players went, Isaiah's attitude toward Magic/HIV get slammed now, but I don't think they were even remotely comparable to Tim Hardaway's stance on gay people...

Meh tim Hardaway just doesn't agree with homosexuality, millions have that view
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#22 » by axeman23 » Sun May 24, 2020 4:46 pm

Pinkyring wrote:
axeman23 wrote:Yeah, at the time the line in most people's minds between HIV and AIDS were much more blurred, and it was widely viewed as somewhat of a death sentence, as others have mentioned. As far as other players went, Isaiah's attitude toward Magic/HIV get slammed now, but I don't think they were even remotely comparable to Tim Hardaway's stance on gay people...

Meh tim Hardaway just doesn't agree with homosexuality, millions have that view


I don't agree with it myself either, but it is what it is at this point... And again, 15 year difference...
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#23 » by druggas » Sun May 24, 2020 5:35 pm

It was considered a death sentence. Then there was speculation about his sexuality.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#24 » by Capn'O » Sun May 24, 2020 6:10 pm

This question makes me feel old.

Of course. It was monumental news and very sad.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#25 » by dhsilv2 » Sun May 24, 2020 6:18 pm

There wasn't an internet full of trolls back then. It was just shocking and confusing. But it was also a pretty quick story and then people discussed it with people who they knew....hard to really compare to today.

Basically it was like so magic is going to die soon, and next at 8 why your kids will die of something or you should be scared (news otherwise was the same).
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#26 » by ADMVP » Sun May 24, 2020 6:20 pm

Pinkyring wrote:
axeman23 wrote:Yeah, at the time the line in most people's minds between HIV and AIDS were much more blurred, and it was widely viewed as somewhat of a death sentence, as others have mentioned. As far as other players went, Isaiah's attitude toward Magic/HIV get slammed now, but I don't think they were even remotely comparable to Tim Hardaway's stance on gay people...

Meh tim Hardaway just doesn't agree with homosexuality, millions have that view
And they are equally archaic

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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#27 » by J-Wolves » Sun May 24, 2020 6:37 pm

Tune from the early 90s

Hes got a magic johnson
His johnsons lost its magic
Now that johnson scares the ladies
It aint so magic
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#28 » by pipfan » Sun May 24, 2020 6:44 pm

I was 23 at the time, and still remember where I was (at work, cooking burgers and heard it on the radio). It was huge news, and I agree with the others-a death sentence
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#29 » by VanWest82 » Sun May 24, 2020 6:54 pm

Here's the truth, and it's ugly. Magic haters (i.e. Bird fans or kids who loved MJ) would make fun of Magic and Isiah for kissing, calling them gay, etc. Society was much more closed minded back then. Heck, we only stopped calling things "gay" as a euphemism for being bad like ten years ago. In the 80s and early 90s, being gay was bad in many communities. Then Magic announced he had HIV which confirmed for many that he was gay. I watched Magic fans who'd put up the good fight for years basically abandon him. Even Converse turned their back on Magic. That announcement was a tragedy on so many levels.

But then, thankfully, we found good ways to manage the virus and started to smarten up as a society. The Magic HIV saga might've been the turning point in society's acceptance of LGBTQ people.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#30 » by SomeBunghole » Sun May 24, 2020 6:57 pm

What is crazy is how quickly it all changed. When Magic was diagnosed with HIV, I was a kid and as many people pointed out, we all assumed he'd be dead within a couple of years. There was also the well-documented opposition from other players to him playing in the fall of '92.

Only a few years later, when he made that comeback, everything felt different. It wasn't a huge deal that he had HIV, there were few public complaints, and now I just assumed that 25 years later, Magic would still be alive and would live to host a terrible talk show.

This changed so much between 1991 and 1995 as far as both public perception of HIV went, but also in how far science had advanced.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#31 » by Hellcrooner » Sun May 24, 2020 7:20 pm

we all thought he was going to die like Rock and Freddie
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#32 » by LibertyPrime » Sun May 24, 2020 8:03 pm

I was young enough so that I was getting confused about 'AIDS' the disease and the diet candy 'Ayds' that used to be advertised on radio. Talk about unfortunate branding!

Once it got through my thick head, I just thought of Magic as a cool guy and I was sad to hear about it. He's a living legend, not just for his play but for showing the nation that the disease is survivable.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#33 » by Slim Charlez » Sun May 24, 2020 8:04 pm

I was born exactly one month after he announced his HIV diagnosis so no.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#34 » by benhillboy » Sun May 24, 2020 8:05 pm

I don’t remember feeling too strongly about it either way; I was much more entrenched in East basketball at the time. Unlike Corona, the crack and AIDS epidemic just seemed so far away for most of the public even though the media plastered it all over television and posters. Had it been Jordan or Nique I would remember it much more vividly. I do remember even as a 7th grader feeling cringey about him using the phrase “the HIV virus that I’ve ATTAINED.” You dont want HIV, Magic.

He did confirm the idea that your level of health and bank account made a monumental difference in your mortality; everyone thought he was done. I did feel bad for Cookie’s embarrassment. How she didn’t contract it is a modern miracle.

Glad he’s still living and thriving and employed thousands of lower income people during his movie theater ownership days. That boy Eazy E died instantly.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#35 » by Catchall » Sun May 24, 2020 8:23 pm

He abruptly retired. Other players had concerns about being on the court with him, in case he got cut and bled on them. People assumed he'd be in a weakened state and wouldn't live too long.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#36 » by Galloisdaman » Sun May 24, 2020 9:08 pm

SNPA wrote:
Cyrusman122000 wrote:Is anyone here old enough to remember Magic getting diagnosed with HIV?

What was the reaction?

Did people think it was a death sentence?

Was the nba world really sad?


Was anyone here alive back then and able to remember the early 90’s? lol

Yes.

I recall I was riding my dinosaur when I heard the news. Tragic. It was sad.

:lol:

Weren't we promised flying cars by now? :D
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#37 » by homecourtloss » Sun May 24, 2020 9:21 pm

druggas wrote:It was considered a death sentence. Then there was speculation about his sexuality.


Yeah, I remember being in high school and people were shocked that Magic Johnson had HIV because we thought that getting it only happened to drug addicts using needles or gay men and there was a bunch of speculation.

What was interesting though is that the treatment of HIV was so very incremental and effective and it really followed along the lines of what was happening to Magic, i.e., he was still healthy and didn’t develop AIDS. Then he made his comeback in 1996 and didn’t look anything like an HIV patient, i.e., the pictures of those men from the ‘80s who would be 90 pounds and near death.

And then everyone assumed modern medicine was making more and more advances that could keep HIV at bay without ever developing a vaccine. In the ‘80s, HIV was a death sentence and then slowly but surely and quietly, it’s not and it’s really one of the outstanding achievements of modern medicine that goes unappreciated since it’s not the headline grabbing cure-all or vaccine.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#38 » by JRoy » Sun May 24, 2020 9:24 pm

pipfan wrote:I was 23 at the time, and still remember where I was (at work, cooking burgers and heard it on the radio). It was huge news, and I agree with the others-a death sentence


That’s about how I remember it.

Even an unrepentant Lakers hater like me mourned his diagnosis.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#39 » by Clyde Frazier » Sun May 24, 2020 9:27 pm

I remember my dad crying, and as others have said it was definitely considered a death sentence at the time. It was basically a season before I started following the NBA seriously. Still get chills watching his all star game highlights and the post game interview accepting the MVP trophy. His comeback in 96 was especially thrilling for a fan who barely got to see him play live.
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Re: Anyone old enough to remember Magic getting HIV? 

Post#40 » by Harcore Fenton Mun » Sun May 24, 2020 9:31 pm

He was known as a philanderer, not much doubt how he got it.

The timing was bad, it was right after he got married.
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