"Greatest endorsement deal Magic Johnson ever signed"- Charlamagne Tha God once gave a crazy take on the Lakers great getting HIV
During Magic Johnson's playing days, it was announced that he had contracted HIV. Fortunately, with advances in modern medicine, people with HIV can lead relatively normal lives with a similar life expectancy.
According to Charlamagne The God, who was speaking on a 2017 episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' Johnson contracting HIV was 'the best endorsement deal he ever signed.'
"What is HIV? What is it? Some say the greatest endorsement deal Magic Johnson ever signed," Charlamagne said. "'I'm saying we're not going to act like his career didn't flourish. It looks great. Take this AIDS. You go and get some movie deal. I was in my car the day they announced on the radio that Magic Johnson had HIV, and I was sh------ my pants. "
I was like, oh, my God, this is like the beginning of a zombie movie. We're all going to get it. If Magic Johnson, with all his money and all his fame, if he's got it. I'm going to get it. We're all going to get it. I was terrified... 30 years later. He looks great. He looks amazing. He's on TV telling us why he left the mother------- Lakers and not the Lakers. Not. Not once did somebody say, Yo, you know, Magic got HIV."
Johnson has continued his relationship with the NBA throughout and can be found regularly sharing his thoughts on the league on Twitter.
Magic Johnson once annoyed Hakeem Olajuwon
During Magic Johnson's playing days, some elite big men were in the NBA. Hakeem Olajuwon was among the most dominant interiors players the league had ever seen, allowing the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets to have some fierce battles.
However, some of the elite players in the NBA at that time used to also play pick-up games against each other. Johnson recalls annoying Olajuwon during one contest and shared his memory of the moment via basketball archives.
“I remember when Hakeem [Olajuwon] came. Hakeem was late. We had a rule. You can’t come after a certain time. You can’t get on a team ‘cause there are so many NBA players."
“I said, ‘Man, I’m sorry, man. They already got all the teams and we’re playing.’ Man, do you know he got so mad? The next day he came, he must’ve blocked 20 shots! He was just so upset."
During his career, Johnson played in 906 regular-season games, averaging 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 11.2 assists, shooting 52% from the field and 30.3% from 3-point range.
Johnson is among the most notable point guards in NBA history and will likely continue to be seen as one of the best point guards of all time.