S.S Sports

Since February is Black History Month, I thought I would write about one of the most influential African American basketball players: Earvin “Magic” Johnson. He is legendary in the world of basketball, and is considered to be possibly the greatest point guard of all time.

He was drafted by the Lakers in 1979 and played as their point guard for 13 seasons. He earned the NBA Finals MVP award as a rookie and won four more championship titles in the 80’s. He was selected twice to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2002 for his individual career and again for being part of the Dream Team. The Dream Team was the United States men’s Olympic team which won gold in 1992.

Johnson announced in 1991 that he had contracted HIV and retired from the NBA. However, he returned shortly afterwards to play in the All Star game, where he won another MVP award. He retired again for four years before coming back a final time in 1996 to play his last games with the Lakers. Also in 1996, he was crowned as one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time.

Off the court, he was instrumental in changing people’s view of HIV, which had been previsouly labelled as a “homosexual disease.” Since his diagnosis, he has been an educator about preventing AIDS/HIV and how to practice safe sex.

We can appreciate how amazing Magic Johnson’s basketball career was and recognize his accomplishments off of the court as well.

Sierra Sanchez is a freshman studying biomedical science.