White House May Name Johnson to AIDS Panel : Health: Ex-basketball star is willing to be considered for post. He would replace member killed by the disease.

The Bush Administration is considering naming former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Earvin (Magic) Johnson to the National Commission on AIDS, The Times has learned.

He would fill the vacancy on the commission left by the recent death from AIDS of Belinda Mason.

Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan is said to be enthusiastic about the idea and is expected to lobby the White House to make the appointment, knowledgeable sources said Sunday.

Johnson “hasn’t given it a lot of thought but has given his consent to be considered,” one source said. “I think he’s obviously a hero to many Americans . . . so I think he would have a tremendous impact. . . . But we can’t push him. He still has to take time to adjust to this.”

Johnson, 32, announced Thursday that he was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus and was retiring from professional basketball. He said that he intends to become a spokesman for AIDS prevention. Implying that he was heterosexually infected, Johnson also said that he planned to wage a widespread campaign to warn young people of the importance of “safe sex” to reduce the threat of AIDS. The commission would provide him with a highly visible national platform to do so.

The 15-member commission was created by federal statute to advise Congress and the White House on the development of a national policy to combat the epidemic. It includes members appointed by Congress and the White House. Mason, who was the only AIDS-afflicted member of the panel until her death in September, was a White House appointee. Thus, the slot will be filled by President Bush.

“There is an enormous groundswell of support for this (Johnson’s appointment),” Dr. June E. Osborn, who chairs the commission, said Sunday. “His name has come up over and over again in the last few days. I think it would be marvelous. I cannot think of a more wonderful appointment that could be made than to have him.

“There is no question in my mind that Magic Johnson has achieved a breakthrough that will result in a fundamental sea change,” she added. “I have been frantic to get the message across to children and youth, and I know damn well that I can’t do it. He can.”

Bush on Friday described Johnson as “a hero to me” and “to everybody (who) loves sports.” He said that Johnson is “a gentleman who has handled his problem in a wonderful way” and added: “I can’t tell you the high regard I have for this athlete.”

Sources said that individuals prominent in the AIDS network, including commission members, have been talking for several days about how Johnson’s plight--and his willingness to be vocal about it--could be used to enhance AIDS awareness.

“Suddenly it was, ‘Oh my God--Belinda Mason’s spot on the commission,’ ” one source said. He said that one prominent member of the commission “took (the idea) to Sullivan, who said he was in favor of it, and now Sullivan’s people are checking with the White House.”

Reportedly, there was earlier discussion in conservative quarters of appointing a member of Kimberly Bergalis’ family to the seat. Bergalis, the young Florida woman who apparently was infected by her dentist, has campaigned for mandatory testing of health care workers and restrictions on the practice of HIV-infected health professionals. But commission sources said that the possibility of appointing a Bergalis family member “has been killed.”

Mason, 33 when she died, was a Kentucky newspaper reporter and short-story writer who was infected with the virus during a 1987 blood transfusion while giving birth to her second child. Last August, she wrote Bush a highly publicized letter, pleading with him to reject federal policies that would further stigmatize people with AIDS.

Mason specifically urged Bush to reverse current immigration regulations that forbid the entry of HIV-infected individuals into this country and urged him to oppose mandatory HIV-screening of health care workers. Bush did not publicly respond to her letter.

Dr. Mervyn F. Silverman, president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, said that Mason’s “shoes would be very, very difficult to fill,” but “someone like Magic Johnson, who has captured the hearts and minds of so many young people, could be a very persuasive force to reach groups of people who have been the hardest to reach: young people, minorities, the many who deny AIDS could be a problem for them.

“Sadly, Belinda Mason was ignored by the White House, even though they appointed her,” Silverman added. “I think it would be a lot harder for them to ignore Magic Johnson.”

Osborn, who said that she has not discussed the subject of appointing Johnson with Administration officials, said that his voice could send a critical message about heterosexual transmission.

“The thing that most people didn’t want to hear is that it was heterosexually spread,” Osborn said. “We didn’t want to believe it because that would mean we could get it too. He has taken us past that milestone.

“We’ve been saying it for years and years, and nobody listened. I don’t often talk to my television set. But I watched him last Thursday and I cried. And I said: ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ ”