Magic Johnson and his ‘All Star Team are in South Africa to do more than ‘just play basketball
Basketball: Julian Drew
t’s in his smile. It’s a happy, spontaneous, infectious smile, an inherent response to the joys of living. It has always been that way for Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson.
Ever since he burst on to the scene of America’s professional basketball league (NBA) as a rookie in 1980 to redefine the way the game was played there has always been that smile. It reflected the enthusiasm and enjoyment he derived from turning what was becoming a dull and unimaginative sport into, primarily, a form of entertainment.
And it was that smile which informed proceedings at the Elkah basketball court in Soweto on Monday. This was no ordinary workout for the assembled throng of knee-high, wannabee slam dunkers. This was a workout with the emphasis on fun.
More often than not these whistle-stop coaching clinics by visiting stars are branded as development by sports administrators. Quite clearly development is something a lot more than that, requiring a structured, sustained and more mundane approach than these one-off celebrity bashes. The most these roadshows can hope to achieve is to inspire the participants to take up the sport or pursue it with renewed vigour.
To accomplish this the participants must remember it for a long time to come. Aside from the mere presence of Johnson, nothing sticks in the memory like a good time. Fortunately for these kids, as far as Magic Johnson is concerned, if it ain’t fun it ain’t worth doing.
After he and his All Star team mates had coached small groups of children in the basic techniques of the game Johnson finished the session off with a lighthearted game of follow-my-leader resembling a choreographed rap ballet.
After rehearsing all the moves the towering figure with Magic emblazoned on his shirt inspired a tangible magic in the air as he led the show like a modern day Pied Piper.
‘Everybody lean back. Are you ready? Get some attitude. No smiles,’ instructed Johnson as column upon column of angelic little faces were transformed by the meanest bad-ass stares this side of the ghetto. ‘Dribble!’ directed the big man and the whole ensemble shouted ‘Yeah!’ as they weaved on the spot past an invisible defence.
‘Pass!’ was echoed by ‘Magic!’ as a hundred no-look-passes flew every which way across the court. ‘Jump shot!’ uncoiled a collective hip-hop into the sky to the sibilant chorus of ‘Swish!’ swirling like the wind.
‘Block shot! ‘ sent arms skyward to the declaration ‘Get it outa here!’ and ‘Slam Dunk!’ saw hundreds of points flash simultaneously on to the scoreboard in a unified homily to ‘Michael Jordan’. And so it went on, happiness written all over the face of Magic Johnson and his obedient congregation.
In fact, Johnson looked to be the happiest man in Soweto that day and that confounds a lot of people. He just isn’t meant to be so happy. For not only is Johnson basketball’s finest ambassador at large, he is also one of the ‘most prominent campaigners for Aids education.
A little over five years ago, on November 7 1991, Magic Johnson stunned the world with the announcement that he had tested HIV positive and was retiring from basketball. But Johnson didn’t slink off into the shadows and mope. He continued to live life his way, with a smile and the confident prediction that ‘I’m going to beat it’.
While tears welled in the eyes of his Los Angeles Lakers team mates, it was Johnson who took up the role of consoler, reassuring them that he would be alright. And he was alright.
Three months later and desperately short of match practice, he was top scorer in the NBA All Star Game and was named Most Valuable Player. That performance convinced the selectors he was worthy of a place in the ‘Dream Team’ for the Barcelona Olympics. He went on to shine at those games and collected a gold medal in what is considered the greatest basketball team ever assembled.
A comeback for the Lakers was called off that November because of opposition from other NBA players, but earlier this year he did play again. In May he announced what he says is his final curtain call when the Lakers were dumped in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Houston Rockets.
Now he stays busy touring with his Magic Johnson All Stars team and raising money for the Magic Johnson Foundation ‘ a charity which has raised more than $6-million for HIV and Aids organisations, with an emphasis on education, prevention and care for young people.
Today Johnson looks as fit and healthy as he did in his prime and nobody who knows him worries anymore about his infection.
‘I don’t feel sick or tired or anything. I’ve never gotten sick. I’m not worried about that. You know what you’ve got to do. You stay healthy. You work out all the time, which I love to do anyway. You eat right. You take your medicine and you just deal,’ said Johnson in an article he wrote for the Los Angeles Times last month.
It is his healthy lifestyle and a naturally innate optimism which have helped him cope most of all. He eats lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and avoids greasy food while he still trains in the gym five days a week just as he has always done.
His faith too helps put things in perspective. ‘The way I look at it the Lord moves in mysterious ways. There has to be a reason for everything and I’ve got plenty of reasons to rejoice. My daughter was born healthy, the rest of my family is healthy and here I am today able to do His work with these children,’ said Johnson during a break in Soweto.
Johnson also takes medication, initially the drug AZT, but now inhibitor drugs to stop the virus from replicating. He has responded well to treatment and his T cell count ‘ white blood cells that act as a defence against disease ‘ has remained constant. When he first announced that he had the virus he received many weird and wacky remedies, but he set about educating himself and has a good understanding of HIV. That is not so difficult in a country like the United States where Aids education has been compulsory in schools for nearly 10 years.
The Clinton administration also takes Aids very seriously, increasing Aids funding by 40% during its first term of office.
In the US, Aids awareness is at a high level and a public figure like Johnson simply helps drive home the message that HIV carriers can lead a normal life and interact with the rest of society without problems.
In South Africa, HIV and Aids are still stigmatised and there is a great deal of ignorance about them.
Television and some of the sponsors of the Magic Johnson tour actually requested that his HIV infection be played down and many potential sponsors declined because of the Aids issue.
With such attitudes it will be a long time before South Africa begins to bring the disease under control. One can’t help feeling, in a country that squandered R14-million on the Sarafina II debacle, that an excellent and certainly far cheaper option to create Aids ‘awareness has just been allowed to go begging.
ENDS