A Most Valuable Player : Magic wins, AIDS stereotypes lose in nationally televised game

Two won’t show up in the records, but Earvin (Magic) Johnson actually made 27 points in the National Basketball Assn.’s All-Star game Sunday. The 25 that went through the hoop and made him the most valuable player are surely less important than the others.

The 26th point was that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cannot be passed around as easily as a basketball. Some players privately had expressed concern about playing with Johnson in the All-Star game, and some may worry about the possibility that he will play in the Summer Olympics. That’s why Johnson’s performance Sunday had to help--against all the fears, once on the court he was just another great player.

The final point that Johnson made was that testing positive for the AIDS virus does not mean the immediate end of life as people want to live it.

He ran with the best of them Sunday after sitting on the sidelines as a retired Los Angeles Laker for three months. How long that level of endurance will last is hard to tell. Johnson is being treated with AZT, which strengthens the immune system. But because the drug also reduces the number of blood cells the body can produce, sometimes severe anemia develops.

If he plays in the Olympics, Johnson could well make even more points off the court, symbolic and clinical as well, points that help tear down stereotypes about HIV and AIDS, points he can make as no one else in the world can.