Magic Johnson: Basketball Legend and HIV/AIDS Activist

Throughout his life, basketball superstar Earvin Magic Johnson has met both challenges and opportunities with leadership. Dubbed Magic, Johnson blazed a spectacular career with the Lakers as point guard alongside center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His epic rivalry with Celtics’ forward Larry Bird marked a legendary era in the NBA. Magic’s announcement in 1991 that he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring from basketball shocked the public but succeeded in putting a familiar and much-admired face on a disease that was then shrouded in fear and prejudice. Since then, Magic Johnson has worked as an advocate for the prevention of HIV and the still-incurable disease AIDS.