Idiots on the airwaves can learn from Magic

by Mike Kahn

Updated: October 13, 2008, 3:40 PM EST 94 comments

Magic Johnson has done much to educate the public about AIDS over the past 17 years. (Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE / Getty Images)

Not only is that ludicrous, but Johnson never even suggested he had AIDS. Anybody who has been involved in the NBA for the past 20 years clearly remembers Nov. 7, 1991, when Johnson held the press conference announcing that he was HIV-positive. Before that time, few of us really knew the difference between being HIV-positive and actually having the AIDS virus.

Actually, Johnson is the reason so much of America has become educated to the difference, and has come to understand what it is all about. But that's not until he faced the scrutiny of his family, the media, his friends and teammates and the rest of America. He was ostracized so heavily by so many NBA players that he retired immediately in the prime of his career and missed out on four years.

It cost him not only financially, but it hurt his pride and perhaps cost him numerous NBA records and NBA titles for fear of the unknown.

Instead, he spent the time learning about the disease, and educating America, while in the process spending countless hours raising money for research to make strides. He returned to play 32 games in the 1995-96 season at the age of the 36 and was a shadow of his superstar self. It was sad, but you could never tell by looking at him.

Typically, he moved on to do greater things, which is what made it all the more galling the way these two fools trivialized both Johnson and the disease. True to form, Johnson didn't jump them as much as issue a classy and important statement:

"Millions are dying from HIV/AIDS, and the fact that they would make jokes about my status is unbelievable. Chris, Langdon and KTLK should use their power in a more positive light by encouraging people to get tested for this disease instead of making up such ridiculous lies."

It sometimes makes you wonder what the pre-requisite is for having a radio show, particularly in a market the size of Minneapolis, that those guys would be so irresponsible about such a delicate subject involving a superstar of Johnson's magnitude.

Obviously, they don't care, but you would think the station might.

Not only has Johnson been such a staunch advocate and contributor for HIV/AIDS research, but Magic Johnson Enterprises has produced what Fortune says is an $800 million net worth from fostering franchises of Starbucks, Burger King, TGI Friday's, 24-Hour Fitness and others in urban areas chock full of local minority employees.

While Charles Barkley doesn't want to be a role model, Magic Johnson IS a role model. He continues to develop the hearts and minds in the inner city not only because he has the wherewithal, but the ambition to provide opportunity to those willing to take it. He has provided more than 800 scholarships to worthy minority high school students so they can attend a college of their choice. He has provided jobs for their parents to help them pay for it.

This is what giving back is all about for professional athletes making obscene amounts of money during their careers. That's not to say all athletes have the kind of money Johnson has or possess the keen business sense that has allowed him to grow in this manner.

Instead, this is just the classic example of why many consider him the ultimate winner and perhaps the best point guard ever to play the game. His role in every basketball game was to keep everyone involved and make the game easier, and he is the only player in history to win a high school title (Michigan), an NCAA title (Michigan State) and an NBA title (Los Angeles Lakers) within a period of four years.

He has taken those exact skills into the business world to cultivate his own success and take those in need — and willing to earn his respect — with him. He is not great at everything he does. And he did not return to college after his two years at Michigan State. He failed miserably as a talk show host, and was even worse as coach of the Lakers — instead settling for five percent ownership and a title in the front office.

Since then, Johnson has become the nation's point guard for urban employment.

Obviously, he is not perfect. Those around him have always called him a control freak, and he didn't attain HIV by being a boy scout. But another one of his strengths is recognizing his own foibles, perhaps understanding the fallibility that caused him to become HIV-positive in the first place. Nonetheless, his college sweetheart and wife Cookie stood by him through the time of revelation and now is a big part of his off-the-court success.

Ultimately, it comes down to Earvin Johnson Jr. spinning his magic, just as he always has.

It's the choice of everyone else to figure out how to learn from him.

And nobody needs to do that more than those two embarrassing voices echoing through the airwaves of the Twin Cities — Chris Baker and Langdon Perry.