AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) President Michael Weinstein presented basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jr. with AHF’s inaugural “World AIDS Day Magic Award” in recognition of his work raising awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment during a ceremony at a Los Angeles Lakers/Indiana Pacers game at Staples Center last Sunday, Nov. 28. For over ten years, Johnson, through his Magic Johnson Foundation, has worked closely with AHF in several free AIDS treatment clinics that are named in partnership with, and honor of Johnson. AHF Magic Johnson Healthcare Centers are located in California in South Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, and in Jacksonville and North Miami Beach, Florida.
Here’s an excerpt from a FOX Sports.com story on Magic AIDS Day Award in which Lakers’ Pau Gasol recalls Magic’s announcement of his HIV-status on Nov. 7, 1991:
A young boy in Spain was no different than many here.
“I was 11 years old at the time,” said Pau Gasol, the Lakers forward who grew up in Barcelona. “It had a huge impact on me. at the time, all I knew about AIDS was that it equaled death. One of the best players in the history of the sport that I loved was going to die. That’s what I thought.” … Gasol has traveled to Angola and South Africa to promote AIDS awareness, an interest he relates to Johnson’s announcement.
Some of AFH’s team in South Africa also sent congratulations to Magic:
Magic Johnson Honored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation
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