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20 Years Ago Today, Magic Johnson Announced He Was HIV-Positive In Sports’ Most Stunning Press Conference Ever

Magic Johnson’s around. We take that for granted now, when he makes fun of LeBron or sort of says he’d maybe like to own the Dodgers one day if the team’s available. and But 20 years ago today, you wouldn’t have found many people who thought Johnson would still be here. And the above video, of course, is the reason why. Johnson stood at the podium, announced he had HIV, and shocked everybody.

It’s been talked about plenty over the years, the way everyone suddenly expected one of the greatest players in basketball history would die not only young, but while he should have still been playing. The way that, when he tried to make an NBA comeback the following year, some didn’t want to play against him at all. (And yeah, the way that Johnson’s life includes plenty not to be proud of.)

It’s still worth thinking about, even now that we take for granted that he’s doing well, now that people are moved to call his life today “perhaps the most stirring rebirth in the history of American sports.” He has a foundation now, one started the same day as the announcement you see above. Amazingly enough, a guy struck down in his prime by a deadly virus – one for which there’s still no cure – mind you – is a feel-good story.

Johnson talked earlier today – Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell documented the event. There were some interesting tidbits, such as a doctor saying that Johnson’s isn’t a particularly exceptional case, despite his resounding success in managing the effects of HIV. That wasn’t the case 20 years ago. Johnson himself said he wouldn’t have retired back in 1991, knowing what he knows now.

But he’s one of the reasons we know as much about it as we do. As the same doctor who described Johnson’s current condition also said, no one’s cured. There’s a long way to go. But much progress has been made. We know a lot more than we used to. And one reason for that: Magic Johnson’s around.

AP photo (by Craig Fujii), via