... there was nothing to smile about when Magic delivered the most important message of his life on Nov. 7, 1991, the day he told the world he was retiring from professional basketball because he had contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. He explained that he likely had done so because of his promiscuous lifestyle as a well-traveled, popular athlete. That the temptations that fell upon him because of his celebrity were too overwhelming to resist. [...] But in a survey of several recent and current NBA players, coaches, and team and league officials by ESPN and ESPN.com, the subject of whether Magic's message is still being heard was not always an agreeable topic. [...] "I would imagine so," was all Portland Trail Blazer forward Shawn Kemp would muster for an answer. Kemp was a subject in a 1998 Sports Illustrated article on professional athletes fathering children out-of-wedlock. In the article, Kemp is said to have had seven children with six different women and had been the subject of at least one paternity suit.
So ... apparently actually hearing that message somehow translates into "boink as many women and father as many children as I can because it won't happen to ME!"
I swear, I don't understand people. Not one bit. How can someone like Kemp hear the ceaseless parade of statistics talking about AIDS roaring through blacks and not understand that, yes, it's possible that these women may be infected, even if they "look" OK. That they may not know until it's too late. (And even if they are uninfected, what sort of idiot runs around fathering children like that just because he can?) That even if they don't get The Big A, there's herpes and all sorts of other nasty things out there that they can't get rid of.
I just don't get it.
Replies: 1 Comment
If Johnson would get horribly sick and die slowly, the message would sink in. The problem with him as a deterrent is that he's fat and happy and seemingly healthy ten years on. I don't wish him ill, by any means, but that's what the problem is.
Posted by Steven C. Den Beste @ 11/08/2001 10:52 AM CST
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
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