Magic still talks the talk on HIV, AIDS
By JEFFRY SCOTT
Cox News Service
Friday, May 26, 2006
ATLANTA — The man who has come to personify pharmaceuticals winning the war on AIDS, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, swung through Atlanta on Thursday as part of a 10-city tour promoting his new partnership with Abbott Laboratories and its anti-AIDS drug, Kaletra.
Looking robust and muscular in a red golf shirt and black slacks, the 6-foot-9 former Los Angeles Lakers guard told a crowd of about 100 at Grady High School Auditorium his good fortune and continued health in the 15 years since he was diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been both a "a blessing, and a curse."
"People look at me and say 'it's cool,' " not to worry about AIDS, he said. His prominence, and success as a businessman since retiring from the NBA 10 years ago, has spawned speculation that he has privileged access to treatment, he said.
"They say 'Magic' is on something magic. No. The same 26 drugs available to you are available to me."
During a question and answer period, audience member Bruce Stagner, 45, reiterated the point that Johnson's remarkable survival sends a mixed message. "I worry that people get the impresssion the disease can be managed like diabetes," he said. "I worry that people with HIV don't think they have to tell their partners that they have HIV."
More than an estimated 1 million Americans are infected with the virus.
Johnson said white gay men proved how effective education and contraceptives are fighting the disease that has infected about 40 million people worldwide.
"When it was looking like it was the worst," said Johnson, holding his hand shoulder high to indicated the rate of transmission among white gay men when the disease first appeared in the early 1980s, "they brought those numbers down," dropping his hand down to his waist.
Read more about it at Daily Sentinel.com.
NBA Future:
Tyler Hansbrough
Tyler Hansbrough led Oak Hill Academy to a 42-1 record as a senior (won their first 42 games) . First-team USA Today All-America selection . Averaged 23.8 points, 9.1 assists and five steals in 2006 . Shot 63 percent from the floor, including 42 percent from three-point range . Had a season-high 37 points, one of nine games in which he scored 30 or more . Had a season-high 18 assists and had double-digit assists 18 times . Played for coach Steve Smith . Participated in McDonald's All-Star Game, Jordan Classic and Nike Hoop Summit . McDonald's and Parade All-America selection . Had 17 points and six assists in Nike Hoop Summit . Also played soccer last year at Oak Hill . Most Valuable Player at Oak Hill in 2005 . Most Valuable Player at World Juniors Tournament in France in June 2005 . Attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md., for two years.
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