Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Basketball, 1991: Magic Johnson’s announcement on Nov. 7, 1991, that he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring from the NBA was the biggest story in America. Johnson was a superstar — every network carried the press conference live and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Magic Johnson’
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird will be the subject of a new Broadway play
For NBA fans of the 1980s, nothing was better than the Larry Bird – Magic Johnson rivalry that started their senior year in college and dominated the NBA from 1980-1988. Now the producers who created ‘Lombardi’ on Broadway have announced they will produce a Broadway play about the two legendary NBA stars, and that both [...]
Magic Johnson, Pau Gasol AIDS activists
Today is World AIDS Day and a good time to reflect on athletes who are doing their best to fight the disease. Two of them are Magic Johnson (former Los Angeles Laker) and Pau Gasol (current Laker). Johnson tested positive for HIV 19 years ago and his struggle against the disease helped motivate Gasol to [...]
Magic blames Isiah for gay rumors
In an upcoming book, basketball’s Magic Johnson blames Isiah Thomas for rumors that Johnson was gay at the time Johnson stunned the world by announcing he was HIV-positive. “Isiah kept questioning people about it,” Magic says in the book “When the Game Was Ours,” written by Johnson, Larry Bird and longtime NBA reporter by Jackie [...]
Young and Magic oppose Prop. 8
Opposition to Proposition 8 in California, which strips away marriage rights from same-sex couples, is getting a big boost from the support of two Hall of Fame athletes: Steve Young and Magic Johnson. Former NFL quarterback Steve Young has posted several signs at his house urging people to oppose Prop. 8. The proposition’s biggest supporters [...]