Magic and me - Page 3

From Griffith REVIEW Edition 22: MoneySexPower
© Copyright Griffith University & the author.

Written by Martin McKenzie-Murray

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It was true. Magic was HIV positive. But he had promised us that he would not die, and so he had promised me that neither would I. Sitting on the rug that night, I felt Magic Johnson transformed from a figure of a publicly shared idolatry to a figure of immense hope, and clandestine worship. Certain as I was that AIDS struck only those who had been ‘bad', I knew that somewhere behind Magic's famous smile there was a corruption, but I guess I thought it was only slight. More importantly, I had a role model, and in his future press conferences I had a doctor and a father and a friend. I really felt this to be true. We were aligned, in vague and terrible ways, through our disease.

And so from then on I became mindful of infecting my younger brothers and sisters, and I avoided using cups in the house, choosing instead to gulp from the tap's stream. Sometimes, in occasional fits of melancholy, I would deliver grand farewells to friends in my head, and at night there were always the sweats. But there was always Magic too, and he stuck around for the next two years or so before I discovered I was not infected – that, in fact, I could never have been infected. My parents never knew the heights of relief I hit then. They never knew any of it.

IN 2003, A NEWS REPORT BEGAN circulating around the world's electronic inboxes. Purportedly from CNN, the report read: ‘Former LA Laker Earvin "Magic" Johnson is in a coma tonight at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and is not expected to live. Johnson, forty-four, is suffering from complications related to HIV, and internal bleeding, a spokesman for Johnson's attorney told CNN.'

It was a famous fake. In reality, Magic is a walking testament to the effectiveness of antiviral drugs, enjoying a level of health above that of your average man or woman. Magic's health is also testament to the fact that if you have millions of dollars, being HIV positive needn't be a death sentence, and while the pandemic still rages in sub-Saharan Africa, America still enjoys Magic as the tribal chief of US possibility – if you have the cash, then you can do anything.

Since then, Magic has been involved in Democrat politics, throwing his weight behind Phil Angelides in the 2006 Californian gubernatorial. Throughout America's urban areas, Magic-developed Starbucks, theatres and private banks can be found. His name is on many TGI Fridays, and in 1998 he had his own short-lived talk show, The Magic Hour. It is believed that Magic has earned much more money since his retirement than during his time at the Lakers, and now he travels around America giving keynote lectures on business to minorities and saying things like, ‘Idolise your hometown business hero, not the jump shot'.

I left Magic some time back. I can't be sure when exactly, though it became clear to me I couldn't have contracted the virus. I started to breathe a little easier, marvelling at the ascendancy of another great ‘baller – perhaps history's finest – Michael Jordan.

I spent much of my time dedicated to collecting Jordan paraphernalia: a small assortment of trading cards, a Jordan mini-ring on my cupboard door, and pages and pages of cartoons and short stories I had created which featured him. I had forgotten all about Magic.

I am thinking about Magic now as I look over the city from my office window. Should I make a small, silent apology for my fickleness? I'm thinking about that smile of his, and the charming, handsome face; his togetherness at that press conference. He was a special man, no doubt he still is.