Johnson retired after he was diagnosed, but he came back for the Olympics in 1992 and another season following that. Players were constantly worried about the threat that Johnson posed to them, that he might give them the virus on the court. At this point, doctors agreed that Magic Johnson posed “almost no” threat to the other players on the court, but “almost no” meant “it’s possible” to other players, and they held onto that fear (Berkow). There was no documented evidence that HIV had ever been transmitted while playing a sport, but few doctors were saying that it was impossible, which left enough room to worry for other players (Berkow).
In an interview with Karl Malone, anther member of the Olympic team that Magic Johnson played on, Malone stated, when referring to his scabs, “I get these every night, every game…they can't tell you that you're not at risk, and you can't tell me there's one guy in the N.B.A. who hasn't thought about it" (Araton). Malone also talked about playing with a lot of young, healthy men, and how Johnson was a legitimate threat to the long lives that they had ahead of them.
Another player in the league, Gerald Wilkins, stated that, “Everybody's talking about [Magic]. Some people are scared. This could be dangerous to us all, but you're dealing with Magic Johnson, so people are handling it with white gloves. They're not going to say how they really feel" (Araton). In a statement by the Phoenix Suns’ General Manager, Jerry Colangelo, he made a bold comparison to his son-in-law who is a surgeon and wears a mask, gloves, and goggles in surgery, and still lives in fear of AIDS. Colangelo was making the point that other players are defenseless, afraid and they are the only ones who have the power to protect themselves from Johnson’s HIV (Araton).
There was some hysteria present around one of the country’s best athletes playing with other healthy athletes. The majority of the fear came from the unknown, what would happen if anyone came in contact with Johnson’s blood, but most of this fear was unfounded. Johnson was treated more like he was contagious, that even rubbing up against him could be a death sentence to another player. The Lakers’ trainer, Gary Vitti, had to be investigated by the NBA and California’s workplace-safety agency after treating a small cut on Johnson’s arm without gloves (“Sports People”). There was still little knowledge about how easily or not easily the virus could be contracted, and everyone was overly cautious. Even over 20 years later, there is no known case of someone being infected with HIV through sports.
In an interview with Karl Malone, anther member of the Olympic team that Magic Johnson played on, Malone stated, when referring to his scabs, “I get these every night, every game…they can't tell you that you're not at risk, and you can't tell me there's one guy in the N.B.A. who hasn't thought about it" (Araton). Malone also talked about playing with a lot of young, healthy men, and how Johnson was a legitimate threat to the long lives that they had ahead of them.
Another player in the league, Gerald Wilkins, stated that, “Everybody's talking about [Magic]. Some people are scared. This could be dangerous to us all, but you're dealing with Magic Johnson, so people are handling it with white gloves. They're not going to say how they really feel" (Araton). In a statement by the Phoenix Suns’ General Manager, Jerry Colangelo, he made a bold comparison to his son-in-law who is a surgeon and wears a mask, gloves, and goggles in surgery, and still lives in fear of AIDS. Colangelo was making the point that other players are defenseless, afraid and they are the only ones who have the power to protect themselves from Johnson’s HIV (Araton).
There was some hysteria present around one of the country’s best athletes playing with other healthy athletes. The majority of the fear came from the unknown, what would happen if anyone came in contact with Johnson’s blood, but most of this fear was unfounded. Johnson was treated more like he was contagious, that even rubbing up against him could be a death sentence to another player. The Lakers’ trainer, Gary Vitti, had to be investigated by the NBA and California’s workplace-safety agency after treating a small cut on Johnson’s arm without gloves (“Sports People”). There was still little knowledge about how easily or not easily the virus could be contracted, and everyone was overly cautious. Even over 20 years later, there is no known case of someone being infected with HIV through sports.