Magic Johnson recalls his wife’s reaction to his HIV diagnosis

Magic Johnson he recalled the “hardest thing” he had to do: tell his wife about his HIV diagnosis.

Johnson has a legacy on and off the court as he has won five NBA championships, three NBA MVP awards and three NBA Finals MVP awards to name just a few of his accomplishments on the court. However, much of Johnson’s illness is due to his HIV diagnosis at a time when there was a lot of stigma against the disease.

During a recent interview with Jennifer Hudson on her self-titled show, the NBA legend recalled a difficult conversation he had with his wife about his HIV status.

“Well, Jennifer, you mean it, first of all, God blessed me to be here 34 years later,” Magik began. “I remember, you thought you made the right decisions, the right moves, and then this news arrived.

“I wasn’t so worried about me, I was worried about Cookie. She was pregnant with our son EJ, so how was that going to affect her?” Magic went on to talk about their first child together. The couple also share a daughter, Elissa, who was born in 1994. Magic is also father to a son, Andre, with ex-girlfriend Melissa Mitchell.

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After receiving the news, Magic had to do the “hardest” thing and that was to have this difficult conversation with his wife about his HIV status.

“When I came home to tell Cookie the news, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, not play against Michael (Jordan) or Larry (Bird), but tell my wife I have HIV,” he told Hudson.

When Cookie received the news, she immediately alerted a higher power to help her and her husband process this information and protect them.

“The first thing she said was, ‘Let’s get down on our knees and start praying,'” he recalled. “And so God truly blessed us both.”

Magic has been an HIV advocate since his diagnosis in the 90s and has been able to educate others about the disease.

“I wanted to make sure that I got out and could talk about it, especially in the black and brown community because the numbers were very high,” he added. “I went to a lot of churches, I went to a lot of schools and I made sure to raise the level of awareness about HIV and AIDS, and I’m happy that I was able to do just that.”

Magic went public with his HIV status in 1991, sparking conversations about the disease and public health. His foundation, the Magic Johnson Foundation, it has its roots in the education of others about illness and helping the sick.