European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Virus it can happen to anybody even me magic tells world the stars and stripes Orts november 9,1991 b Page 32by John Nadel Inglewood Calif. A in his most difficult moment As friends and fans alike cried magic Johnson still had a smile that familiar smile. A it can happen to anybody a even me magic Johnson Quot he said As a stunned sport ski orld watched. Earvin a a magic Johnson of All people has the aids virus. One of the greatest players Ever a five time Aba Champion and a three time map is retiring immediately from basketball. A this is one of those things you think can t happen to you but it can a Johnson said making the announcement himself thursday at a news conference televised nationally and attended by old teammates doctors and Aba commissioner David Stern. A sometimes you re a Little naive about it and think it can never happen to you. You think it can happen to Only other people. But it has happened and in a going to Deal with it Ana life goes  in 12 sparkling seasons Johnson and his trademark smile helped turn a struggling Aba into the biggest sports Success Story of the 1980s. With him at the Point lakers games were  on wednesday Johnson got the news that the his virus had turned up in routine tests for a life insurance policy. He said his wife of two months tested negative. Both Johnson and the lakers physician or. Michael Mellman said he does no to have aids Only the virus that leads to it. A i feel really Good a Johnson said. Quot i feel  neither he nor his doctors said How or when he contracted the virus usually transmitted through sex or intravenous drug use. A i done to believe we know at this Point specifically a Mellman said. Johnson said it shows that Gays Aren t the Only people who Are infected and repeatedly stressed that a Safe sex is the Way . Johnson 32, is the most prominent athlete to announce his infection with human in my no deficiency virus and the most prominent american since Rock Hudson. More than just a basketball Star Johnson has been a philanthropist a prominent corporate spokesman and a role Model for Young people. His Broad Grin familiar nickname and electrifying ability have made him familiar to people around the world. Johnson came in fourth in a recent consumer Survey of the Appeal of athletes As commercial endorsers behind Michael Jordan to Jackson and Tommy Lasorda. A a in a going to go on in a going to heat it and i m going to have fun a Johnson insisted. Displaying some of the irrepressible is for life that he brought daily to the basketball court. Friends fans and fellow players were stunned and tearful. Los Angeles lakers general manager Jerry West was near tears at the news conference and Kareem Abdul Jabbar cried when he heard the news. Pat Riley Johnson a former coach with the lakers and now coach of the new York kicks led his players the Orlando magic and the crowd at Madison Square Garden in a prayer before their game thursday night. Quot it s devastating for us from an emotional standpoint and a personal standpoint a West said. Earvin a a magic Johnson sitting out tuesday nights game against the clippers holds the Aba record for career  sports College football on to a Page 25 kicks hand Orlando first loss a Page 26 High school football playoffs a Page 29 magic s illness shocks admirers a Page 30 a i m Happy to see he has a positive Outlook a said Abdul Jahbar. Quot when i saw him he tried to he positive As he could. He was smiling As  hundreds of people ventured to the forum in Inglewood for the news conference and people cried openly in the streets of los Angeles. For magic though the smile was still there just faintly dimmed As he told the most difficult news conference of his life that he would become a spokesman for aids groups and promote Safe sex among youngsters. �?o1 plan on going on living for a Long time and 1 guess now i can enjoy some of the other sides of living a Johnson said. A a it a another Challenge another chapter in my life. Your Hack is against the Wall. I think you just have to come out swinging. In a  Quot Mellman said lie recommended that Johnson not play professional basketball or participate in the 1992 olympics because of the intense level of physical activity both would require. Johnson had been chosen for the . Olympic team that will play next summer in Barcelona. Johnson had not played for the lakers this season. He missed the first three games complaining of weakness and dehydration but had been cleared to resume practice this week. The Aba was struggling to survive when in 1979, Johnson left Michigan slate after winning the Mcaa championship As a Sophomore and became the no. 1 pick in the pro draft. Along with Larry Bird he helped turn the league into a worldwide entertainment marketing and sports Success. The average salary was $171,000 in 1980. It was More than $1 million going into this season. At h-foot-9. Johnson revolutionized the Point guard position. He leaves the game with a league record 9,921 assists having broken Oscar Robertson s career Standard last season. He made the a triple double a the once obscure feat of double figures in Points assists and rebounds a almost commonplace and finished with career averages of 19.7 Points 7.3 rebounds and 11.4 assists. A a in be always said when Earvin retires trom the game he will go Down in history As the greatest guard Ever to play the game Quot said Jud he theote who coached Johnson at Michigan slate. Quot that is the ease  in his first year he led the lakers to the league championship and became the first Rookie to be map of the finals cementing the Honor with a storybook performance in the sixth and final game at the spectrum in Philadelphia. Abdul Jabbar the Center stayed Home because of injury and Johnson took Over. Playing All five positions at various times he had 42 Points 15 rebounds and seven assists As the lakers beat the 76ers 123107. And he was Only 21 years old at the time. The lakers would reach the Aba finals nine times in Johnson s 12 seasons winning again in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, the last one making them the first team since the 1969 Boston celtics to repeat As champions. They lost to the Chicago bulls in five games last june. Johnson earned All Aba status for the ninth time and was second behind Chicago s Michael Jordan in the map voting last season. Johnson from Lansing mich., was married in his Home state on sept. 14 to longtime Girlfriend cookie Kelly. He has a son Andre who lives in Lansing. Johnson first became known As magic when he was a Sophomore at Everett High in 1974. Fred Stabley jr., a sports writer for the Lansing state journal coined the nickname after watching Johnson get 36 Points 18 rebounds 16 assists and 20 steals Johnson said he did t feel ill adding a this is not like my life is Over because its not. In a going to live Long. I can work out and do everything a Normal person can