The early-season reports about Magic Johnson were increasingly suspicious in 1991. He supposedly was suffering from jet lag or the flu.
Then the Lakers called a press conference and Johnson arose to speak.
“Because of the HIV virus I have attained,” he said, “I will retire from the Lakers today.”
That bomb dropped 25 years ago Monday, but untold millions can still remember every detail.
On “NBC Nightly News,” Tom Brokaw said Johnson’s announcement was “so shocking and so unexpected it is difficult to absorb it, even as we report it.”
The dreadful news was eventually absorbed and transformed into a message of hope.