Word: earvin
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SEVEN YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS 16 AND suffered with leukemia, I had a wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I chose to visit my favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers, and meet my hero, Earvin ("Magic") Johnson. I can't tell you how much it meant to me and my recovery to meet him. He spoke with me in the locker room, and I had my picture taken with him. Beforehand, I was nervous, but he took control of the situation and made it comfortable. Afterward, I felt as if we were friends, that I could just...
Even without basketball, Johnson has led a full life these past four years. His wife Cookie gave birth to Earvin Johnson III in 1992, and last year the Johnsons adopted a baby girl. He threw himself into business projects, one of which is the Magic Johnson Movie Theaters in Los Angeles' predominantly black community of Crenshaw; the movie complex is one of the top five in the U.S. in gross revenues and has sparked a business revival in its tough South Central neighborhood. He tried coaching the Lakers during the second half of the '94 season, but quit after finding...
...days after the game, Johnson talked about his feelings. "It was like being stranded on a desert island, and you finally get home! I finally had gone home." And when he did go home to Cookie and the kids, what did three-year-old Earvin III say? "He said, 'Daddy, I watched you play!' And that's all I needed right there...
...that regard, Johnson is an ideal patient. "Initially [his HIV-positive status] was devastating, and it took a while for him to get through that," says Mellman. "But he's an extremely optimistic individual who really tends to look on the bright side of things. What you see with Earvin is what you get. He's a straight-shooting, positive guy, and I suspect that's a key to his success no matter what he does." Johnson says that in the early days of his illness, he received advice and support from Elizabeth Glaser, the late AIDS activist...
...past four years. "They said playing basketball would kill me," he says. "Well, not playing basketball was killing me." His 6-ft. 9-in. body has changed, but not his heart. When Michael Jordan successfully returned to the game last year, the original M.J. felt somewhat wistful. And as Earvin III grew older, Earvin II found another, compelling reason to return. Says Magic: "My son had heard from other fathers that his daddy was a great player but he couldn't play no more, blah, blah, blah. Now he'll get a chance to experience my playing...