Magic Johnson went through a unique struggle to end his career after he was diagnosed to be HIV positive in the early 90s. The Lakers legend was far from done with basketball at this point, but the disease had a huge stigma surrounding it. Despite attempting a comeback later in his life, for all intents and purposes, Magic’s career essentially ended following the Dream Team run.
A large reason why Magic could no longer play in the NBA was that players were afraid to play against him. While HIV is not a disease that can be transmitted through proximity, many were concerned about playing against Johnson. For every Dennis Rodman who simply didn’t care if Magic Johnson had HIV or not, there was a Karl Malone that was outspoken in his opposition. The Jazz legend spoke about it publicly when a lot of players wouldn’t, and this left Magic quite hurt.
Karl Malone: “If I get in a collision with a guy, it don’t have to be Magic. It could be Hoe Smoke. But the fact of the matter is, if you got the AIDS virus, it would be hard for me to play as hard as I’m playing. And if people can’t respect my decision…”
Magic Johnson: “It’s like, I’m hurt, you’re hurt inside. Not at him, but the fact that I won’t get a chance to play because of what he said, you understand?”
The voices of other stars were huge in deciding whether Magic would be able to do what he loved or not, and it seems many just didn’t want him on the court. And Malone’s stand, in particular, is something that Magic still thinks about, with the Lakers legend recently speaking about it again.
Magic Johnson Opened Up On Karl Malone Openly Advocating Against Him Playing In The 90s Thanks To His HIV
Magic Johnson and Karl Malone were on the Dream Team together, so this would not have felt too good for Johnson to hear. He recently spoke about it again, on a podcast with Shannon Sharpe, being as honest as he could about the whole thing.
(starts at 01:27 minutes)
“All the guys. Especially Karl Malone, he came out publicly with it. Now I just played with you, in the Dream Team. I practiced against you every single day. And now you don’t want to play with me? I mean, against me? I was like, wow, you could have just said that to me. I said, I don’t wanna damage the league. If they gonna look at me that way, I won’t come back.”
Magic’s take on the whole situation is a lot more gracious than most people would have been about something like that. The Lakers legend has a clear understanding of everything that had gone on. Karl Malone is the furthest thing from being most fans’ favorite person, but Johnson still managed to show his class in this situation. With everything he has done to help and raise awareness around the disease, Magic and his life with HIV is a story that would inspire just about everybody.
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