Earvin (Magic) Johnson

Basketball is a game of athleticism and of intelligence. It is one of the most challenging games physically and mentally to play. It has many players feel flustered and annoyed to learn the mechanics of the game. Magic Johnson was a phenomenal basketball player with amazing talent. He would dominate the court every time he stepped on it. He would make people look silly when going against them. Earvin (Magic) Johnson has an amazing NBA record but is also an amazing businessman. He took advantage of his fame to help him once he retired from the league. Magic Johnson made a name for himself with a sport. Magic Johnson uses his determination and passion in whatever he does in life to inspire men and women around the world to have a work ethic like him.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magic_Johnson_argentina.jpgLucio10540 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]Sometimes everyone needs to prove themselves to themselves or to someone else for that little ego boost. Magic Johnson showed that through hard work and determination that proving yourself is just a little challenge to the bigger picture in life. Magic Johnson was so committed to the game of basketball that “[t]he neighbors called him ‘June Bug,’ because he used to hop from one court to the next” (“Earvin Johnson”). He never wanted to get off the basketball court and his solution was, “the only way you can stay on the court... is to keep winning. And I wanted to keep playing. All day and all night long.” He had the mentality of a champion. He would be like a lion getting ready to catch its prey. He always tried his hardest no matter the circumstance. Later down his professional career of basketball, he had a physical examination on his health and if he was all ok and he, “tested positive for the HIV virus that leads to AIDS, an incurable and fatal illness. Johnson held a press conference on November 7, 1991, publicly announcing his illness and his decision to retire from basketball.” Johnson, a man who invested his life in the game of basketball announced that he was going to retire. It was even harder for him to break the news to his teammates saying, “‘Breaking the news to my teammates was the most emotional experience of this entire ordeal,"... Everyone was crying, including me.’” Forcing yourself to quit something that you hold so close to your heart for your benefit or the people around you benefits is a sacrifice Johnson was willing to take. He became a national spokesperson for AIDS awareness in his retirement. He made the Magic Johnson Foundation in 1991 to help men and women with HIV/AIDS. But a couple of years later he announced on January 29,1996, “he was rejoining the Los Angeles Lakers. After four years of retirement and a few comeback attempts, Johnson told reporters that ‘it's now or never’ for him to play professional basketball. He conceded that at age 36 and 27 pounds heavier than he was when he played his last game in June 1991, he would not be the Magic of old. But he quickly added that he still knew the game, still loved it and could motivate his team to victory through his leadership.” People come back to the things that they love, whether it's for something in their life that they hold close to themselves or a sport that they played since they were a child. Men and women will find a way to get back to their true ambitions in life the ones that love them will support them.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magic_Johnson_2007.JPGOffice of Senator Tom Harkin [Public domain]Men and women all around the world find something that may be able to scary to tell the world. Johnson told the whole world in a press conference on how he contracted HIV/AIDS. Many people believed that “the virus mostly affected homosexuals or intravenous drug users. There was also a lot of fear and confusion regarding how the disease could be transmitted” (Biography.com Editors). When our society is even a little frightened about something and it turns out that someone who is well known in their profession has done something or has contracted a deadly virus it pushes people to hate who you are. Johnson even though flustered about the situation made a choice to leave the NBA and help men and women across the world with HIV & AIDS. “He established the Magic Johnson Foundation to support HIV/AIDS research efforts and awareness programs that same year [and] In 1992, he wrote the educational guide What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS.” Johnson even writes a letter to the president at the time about HIV/AIDS saying, “I have made regarding serving on the National Commission on AIDS. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on the commission because it has given me the chance to learn so much about AIDS and what must be done to fight it. My fellow commissioners are a wonderful group of caring and dedicated people who have worked hard and effectively to develop a bipartisan consensus and plan of action this country should follow in the fight against AIDS” (Johnson). He writes to George W. Bush about how the government needs to help the many infected people of this disease. Johnson uses the popularity he gained from basketball to raise awareness of the matter that he wants to fix. Magic Johnson uses what he is given to work with and makes the most out of it.

Everyone has an inspiration in life. Even if it's something in a TV show to a real life person it means that they are the best in their eyes and most people that have messed up inspirations that come out to have done some very bad stuff. Johnson was not only an inspiration to all but he also made a lot of men and women focus on a task that was placed in front of them. He let many people stand up and fight against HIV/AIDS. He is a man of business and a man of culture. Magic Johnson found a job that he loved and he never treated it as a job, but as a hobby that he is able get paid from.

Works Cited

• Editors, Biography.com. “Magic Johnson.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television,

24 Jan. 2019, www.biography.com/people/magic-johnson-9356150.

• "Earvin Johnson." UXL Biographies, UXL, 2011. Student Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2108101183/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=d46 c4386. Accessed 21 Mar. 2019.

• Johnson, Magic. "Letter from Magic Johnson to George Bush, September 24, 1992."

Gale U.S. History in Context, Gale, 2015. Student Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/XAWASP080455654/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=4b8a1dfa. Accessed 25 Mar. 2019.