Basketball legend Magic Johnson opened up to “CBS Mornings” about the day his basketball career was interrupted by a stunning HIV diagnosis 30 years ago.
Johnson discussed the shocking moment three decades ago and how it affected his life. The Los Angeles Lakerstar was a newlywed who had no idea how much time he’d have left to live or how the virus would affect his pregnant wife and their unborn baby.
In the exclusive interview, with Gayle King, Johnson revealed that he didn’t know much about the disease when he got the devastating diagnosis.
“I had to really learn a lot about the disease, HIV as well as AIDS. I had to make sure that I was open-minded enough to ask a lot of questions, go get a lot of information from different people,” he said.
While the Johnson said it was hard to process the news, he admitted nothing was more challenging than preparing to tell his wife.
“It was hard because I loved her so much, and I hated to hurt her,” he said.
When Johnson broke the news to his wife Cookie, she thought it was “probably through sexual contact,” since he hadn’t had any blood transfusions, but she was worried about something else.
COMMENTS