When Magic Johnson came out with his incredibly shocking news that he had been diagnosed with aids I was clearly too young to remember, but my dad always told me about how surprised and disappointed he was. My dad has been a Lakers fan forever and Magic is his favorite basketball player of all time just because of how incredible of an athlete he was. He led the Lakers to 5 NBA championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. Not only is the fact that he won 5 NBA championships amazing, but even more amazing is the fact that he played point guard while being six foot, nine inches tall. That is simply incredible to think of a man of that stature to be playing a position that requires finesse and ball handling skills beyond what is normally expected out of a player that is that tall.
Just thinking about something like this made me think, who would be a player that would have this much affect on the game if they came out and shocked the world with news like this. There are so many amazing players that are involved in the NBA right now, but who is the most important player for the NBA’s publicity. I personally feel as if Magic was one of the most popular players at that point in his career after winning that many championships. He was obviously great and I believe that many people will believe that if LeBron James came out with that same sort of news it would be similar to Magic. However, I do not think this is true.
LeBron is an incredible athlete. He is important to the NBA because he creates such an incredible amount of popularity and income for the league. However, I think that the person that would have this same affect on the league would be Kobe. I think this because he is so similar to Magic Johnson as he has also won many championships, only one less than Magic. He also has had a career like few others and has helped to lead the Lakers just like Magic did.
Who do you think would impact the league like Magic did? There are only a few players that I think it could be, but maybe you have a different idea than I do? Would a past player coming out now have the same effect as a player that is still in the league?
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I think you're right in assuming that Kobe would have about the same impact as Magic did in a sense. Obviously today, that would be a big blow, especially to the Lakers. However, I don't think this type of event will ever have the same impact as it did in 1991 when Magic Johnson made that historic announcement. The reason I say this is because Magic Johnson gave the news that he had contracted HIV at a time when HIV was new and not much was known about it except for the assumptions that it contracted by homosexuality or drug use. Anyways, to answer your last question, I definitely think the impact would be less severe for a player to announce his illness after his career rather than in his prime.
ReplyDeleteWhat made Magic unique was that his appeal crossed boundaries of team favorites, at least in my opinion. Maybe I just believe that because I was a huge Lakers fan at the time. However, Magic was much more personable than Kobe, so even though people appreciate Kobe's skills, and may consider him (or Lebron) as the greatest player of his era, he does not have the same charisma that Magic had. Also, I agree with Brandy when she said that she didn't think this type of event would have the same impact today as it did in 1991. Like Brandy, I just don't think people view hiv or AIDs with the same trepidation anymore. When Magic announced it, people assumed he would die in the near future!
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