On November 7, 1991, I was sure that Earvin Magic Johnson would be dead in a year. I remember the day, 30 years ago today, when he announced to the world that he was HIV-positive. I was home in Dallas, packing to move to my native Los Angeles to begin my new job with the Orange County Register as the Los Angeles Lakers’ first female beat writer. My dream job — and I could only think of the nightmare that would be the death of Magic.
Earlier in the day, before Magic made his shocking announcement, my friend and soon-to-be co-worker, Janis Carr, called me.
“You’re missing the biggest story on your beat,” she said.
“Yeah, I know,” I said lazily. “The Clippers beat the Lakers two nights ago.” That was BIG news back then.
“No,” she said. “Magic is going to announce today that he has AIDS and is retiring.”
WTF? Being a fact-checking journalist, I called the Lakers and said to someone in the PR department, “Hi, I’m Kelly Carter. I’m your new beat writer for the Orange County Register. Is Magic retiring today?”
The man replied, “Watch your TV.”
I followed his orders and sat glued to my TV until the press conference began a few hours later.
A few days later, I boarded an American Airlines flight from Dallas to LA and cried all the way. A flight attendant tried to comfort me and asked me if I was OK.
“Noooooo,” I wailed. “Magic is dying.”
The only thing that died was the assumption that HIV is a death sentence.
“While a lot of people buckle under (challenges), I thrive in those situations. When everybody thought I was going to die after I announced I was HIV-positive in 1991, I said, ‘That’s another challenge in my life.’ And I stepped up to it.”
Magic Johnson
I got to know Earvin and his wife Cookie very well during my four years as a Lakers beat writer when Magic came out of retirement in 1992 to play in the NBA All-Star Game (earning All-Star MVP), came back for the 1992-93 season then retired again only to come back as coach and then quit before buying 5% of the Lakers. In 1994, I joined him for a few days on his Magic Johnson All-Star barnstorming tour for an assignment. When I later worked at People, I interviewed the couple for the magazine’s 25th anniversary issue. The three of us sat alone in theater seats inside the first Magic Johnson Theatre and talked about their lives, living with HIV and him as a businessman.
Earvin was one of the business leaders I interviewed for the New York Times bestseller Come to Win that I co-authored with Venus Williams. In his 8-page chapter, Earvin wrote, “People said, ‘Oh, you were great on the basketball court, but I don’t know if you can be great as a businessman.’ Again, I had to go back to work. I thrive on challenges and proving people wrong. So they fueled my fire. Don’t put a challenge in front of me, because I’m going to go for it. While a lot of people buckle under that, I thrive in those situations. When everybody thought I was going to die after I announced I was HIV-positive in 1991, I said, ‘That’s another challenge in my life.’ And I stepped up to it.”
You have to believe in Magic!
