Magic Johnson The Announcement

Magic Johnson The Announcement, It was the moment sports fans can never forget, and now will have the chance to relive. Magic Johnson’s shocking disclosure in 1991 that he was diagnosed with HIV gets the documentary treatment in The Announcement, which screened this week in downtown Los Angeles, just minutes away from where the Lakers play.

In the film, we see Johnson from the time he emerges as a phenom from Michigan State. “I don’t know if everyone feels they were born to do something…but I did,” he recalls. The Announcement starts off by revisiting the hard-partying culture of ’80s and early ’90s b-ball, recalled by celebrity fans such as Chris Rock. Then Johnson is given the devastating news, and the tide shifts.

Director Nelson George examines the Lakers point guard’s stunning revelation from a variety of standpoints (including the player’s own, as he addresses the camera in a recent interview).

“Andre was the one who had to go through a lot when you think of 20 years ago,” Johnson said, referring to his son, who was 10 at the time of the announcement. “He didn’t know if [his] dad was going to be here.”

The rest is well-known history, but George’s insightful portrayal of the cultural turning point has critics singing praises. The Los Angeles Times calls the film “moving and informative,” while HitFix.com points out, “what George cares about is showing how Magic’s illness-and then his continued health, two decades and counting after the diagnosis-changed the world’s perception of HIV and AIDS.”

Magic Johnson Documentary

Magic Johnson Documentary, This past Sunday, ESPN aired the Magic Johnson documentary ‘The Announcement‘, which relived the moment from November 1991 when the legendary basketball player announced he was HIV positive.

In the Johnson-narrated documentary, filmmaker Nelson George walks us through how Johnson first learned that he was HIV positive, the anxiety he had when faced with telling his friends, family and teammates, and the impact that the announcement made on Johnson’s life.

“I wasn’t scared to announce it; I wasn’t scared of the media,” Johnson said in the film. “What I was scared of is would I see [friends and teammates] again?”

The documentary, which aired a little over 20 years after the announcement shook the world, also highlights the impact Johnson had on HIV awareness with the announcement, and how he would ultimately go on to be one of the disease’s biggest voices.

“I was a guy that could shoulder HIV and AIDS,” Johnson said. “A lot of guys couldn’t have gone public, and then get involved in the HIV and AIDS fight the way that I have.”