> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.grumpybuck.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # On This Date: Magic Johnson Announces He Has HIV (Nov. 7, 1991) - URL: https://www.grumpybuck.com/on-this-date-magic-johnson-announces-he-has-hiv-nov-7-1991/ - Published: 2026-11-07T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-07T11:59:59.000Z - Description: On Nov. 7, 1991, Magic Johnson told the world he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring from the Lakers. He said he planned to live a long time. - Author: Brad Riddell - Tags: Sports History, On This Date, Basketball, NBA Magic Johnson won 5 NBA titles and 3 MVP awards, and he’s one of the 10 or so best players who ever lived. The most important thing he ever did happened at a press conference. On Nov. 7, 1991, at the Forum in Inglewood, California, Johnson told the world he had tested positive for HIV and was retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers, effective immediately. ![“MAGIC.” The front page in Lansing, Michigan, Johnson’s hometown. (Lansing State Journal, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c01_h-3.jpg) “MAGIC.” The front page in Lansing, Michigan, Johnson’s hometown. (Lansing State Journal, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1, via Newspapers.com) ## The Physical Johnson was 32\. He had led the Lakers to the NBA Finals 5 months earlier and had gotten married in September. ![Johnson against Michael Jordan in the 1991 NBA Finals.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/magic_jordan_1991.jpg) Johnson against Michael Jordan in the 1991 NBA Finals. ![Johnson at the Forum in the 1985 playoffs. (Photo: Lori Shepler, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/magic_bowie_1985.jpg) Johnson at the Forum in the 1985 playoffs. (Photo: Lori Shepler, Los Angeles Times, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0?ref=grumpybuck.com), via Wikimedia Commons) Before the 1991-92 season, he took a routine physical, and the test came back positive. He sat out the first 3 games of the season, and the Lakers said he had flu-like symptoms. ## The Press Conference In 1991, HIV was widely seen as a death sentence. Most people thought of it as a disease of gay men and drug users, not of famous, married athletes. Nobody that famous had ever said it out loud. ![“Magic Johnson’s Career Ended by HIV-Positive Test.” (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c05_h-4.jpg) “Magic Johnson’s Career Ended by HIV-Positive Test.” (Los Angeles Times, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1, via Newspapers.com) Johnson walked up to the podium in a suit and said it. “Because of the HIV virus I have attained, I will have to announce my retirement from the Lakers today,” he said, at the Forum, where he’d played for 12 seasons. He said his wife, Cookie, was pregnant and that she and the baby had tested negative. He said he wasn’t going to hide. “It can happen to anybody,” he said. “I plan on going on, living for a long time.” He promised to become “a spokesman for the HIV virus.” ![Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Cookie Johnson listen.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/presser_buss_cookie.jpg) Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Cookie Johnson listen. ![“Courage in the face of AIDS.” (Detroit Free Press, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c02_h-1.jpg) “Courage in the face of AIDS.” (Detroit Free Press, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1, via Newspapers.com) ## The Reaction The news stopped the country. TV networks broke into regular programming. In New York that night, Pat Riley, his old coach, now with the Knicks, took the microphone at Madison Square Garden and led the crowd and both teams in the Lord’s Prayer. President George H.W. Bush called Johnson “a hero for anyone who loves sports.” Calls to AIDS hotlines jumped across the country, and so did the number of people getting tested. ![Johnson’s Nov. 15, 1991, letter to President Bush accepting a seat on the National Commission on AIDS.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/letter_bush_1991.jpg) Johnson’s Nov. 15, 1991, letter to President Bush accepting a seat on the National Commission on AIDS. ![“STUNNED.” (Lansing State Journal, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1C, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c03_h-2.jpg) “STUNNED.” (Lansing State Journal, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 1C, via Newspapers.com) ![“Magic is gone from the NBA.” (The Boston Globe, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 51, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c07_h-6.jpg) “Magic is gone from the NBA.” (The Boston Globe, Nov. 8, 1991, p. 51, via Newspapers.com) ![“The memories are truly Magic.” (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 8, 1991, Section 4, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c08_h-2.jpg) “The memories are truly Magic.” (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 8, 1991, Section 4, p. 1, via Newspapers.com) ## Not Done Yet He didn’t stay retired. Fans voted him into the 1992 All-Star Game anyway, and he scored 25 points and won the MVP. That summer he played on the Dream Team in Barcelona and won a gold medal. ![Johnson with the 1992 All-Star MVP trophy.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/allstar_mvp_1992.jpg) Johnson with the 1992 All-Star MVP trophy. ![Johnson and Jordan with their gold medals in Barcelona.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/magic_jordan_gold.jpg) Johnson and Jordan with their gold medals in Barcelona. ![Johnson in the 1992 All-Star Game in Orlando. He was the MVP. (The Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 10, 1992, p. C-10, via Newspapers.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/c09_h-7.jpg) Johnson in the 1992 All-Star Game in Orlando. He was the MVP. (The Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 10, 1992, p. C-10, via Newspapers.com) A comeback with the Lakers that fall fell apart when some players said they were afraid of playing against him. He finally came back for 32 games in 1996, at 36, and then retired for good. ![TIME, Feb. 12, 1996.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/time_1996.jpg) TIME, Feb. 12, 1996. ## 35 Years Later Johnson is 67 now. He became one of the most successful businessmen in sports, with stakes in the Dodgers, the Sparks and the Washington Commanders. ![Pat Riley, Johnson and Jerry West in 1989. (Photo: Lacy Atkins, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/10/riley_magic_west.jpg) Pat Riley, Johnson and Jerry West in 1989\. (Photo: Lacy Atkins, Los Angeles Times, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0?ref=grumpybuck.com), via Wikimedia Commons) When he said he planned on living for a long time, almost nobody believed him. He was right.