All in all, does it really matter how Magic Johnson got AIDS?
This is exactly what I was going to say. Whether the relevant statistic is 1 percent or 4 percent, there’s nothing suspicious about Magic Johnson being one of that group, particularly considering that he probably had many more sexual partners than the average man.
Film directors Lee Daniels and Paris Barclay, WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes and Wanda Sykes.
Because it depends whether he has good AIDS or bad AIDS.
Pretty much what I wanted to point out. What are the odds of winning the MegWinBucks Lottery? Far less than 1%. Which is why nobody has ever won it, right?
Didn’t see that coming… Cheers for Don.
Rim shot?
Only to those who are fixated on other people’s sex lives…
Really, if they are that interested in the topic, they can find plenty of gay porn on the 'net.
I like the understatement in this sentence. NBA players then had - and probably still have - a reputation for sleeping around in every city they played in, and Magic was one of the most famous players in the league. There’s no particular reason not to take Magic’s statements about it at face value since it’s unlikely we’ll ever have more than one person’s word or another’s about what he was doing.
Also consider that the statistics from the CDC only apply to the US. The African AIDS epidemic has had no problems whatsoever spreading among the heterosexual population. The epidemiology of the disease in the industrialized world has exaggerated the disparity in risk between heterosexual and homosexual transmission somewhat.
Also simply consider what huge news it was and the attitude of the media at the time. Magic revealed his status at a time when they were just starting to finally move away from the “gay plague” angle. Part of what made it such a huge turning point was that Magic was such an unassaliably heterosexual man, it became near impossible for people to keep acting like HIV was only a gay problem. I think had there been even a whiff of a prior rumor, it would have been impossible to keep quiet.
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There’s probably some reduced risk, but not a factor of five.
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Without a man coming forward to say he had sex with Magic Johnson, I don’t see any reason to disbelieve his version of events.
Even using your numbers. that 1% is based on the average hetero male who may have a dozen or so sex partners in his life. Someone like MJ who had hundreds is far more likely to contract any std including HIV because he had thousands of partners. Roll 4 standard 6 sided dice. There is about a 1% chance of the dice adding up to greater than 21. Call that one sexual encounter with a unique partner. Repeat that a couple dozen times and see what happens.
I will bet you my next paycheck that by the end of 200 rolls you will have hit that threshold. I just built a little excel spreadsheet to do this die roll 250 times. It took 81 trials of 250 to have a set of 250 without at least one occurence of roll>21.
Kinda like vegas…kep throwing the dice, you will lose.
No, but so what? What’s your point? The purpose of this whole message board is to address the questions and curiosities of its users.
Not speaking for Shinna Minna Ma, only for myself, but I did have the same reaction. Possibly due to a sort of smirking undertone to the OP, as if he wants to be able to say “Ooh, Magic Johnson had buttsex with a man, hork, hork, hork!”. I also acknowledge that this undertone may be in my imagination, as a sort of knee-jerk sensitivity when this sort of topic comes up.
Roddy
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who believe this.
Re-reading the OP, I can understand the reaction although I didn’t sense anything pejorative initially. Since this is GQ, I guess I didn’t think twice about it. Of course, this thread should probably be in IMHO anyway.
I thought of Larry David and how Charlie on “Party of Five” had good Hodgkins.
Unless it was during a threesome with his poon-hound running mate, Isaiah Thomas. They did used to exchange a cheek kiss before games with each other as a sign of friendship.
I doubt that it’s an accurate figure, since it is based on self-reporting of contacts. And the public stigma attached to gay sex, especially back in 1992, would result in significant under-reporting of gay sex.
Assuming your “next obvious question” being “Is Magic Johnson uncircumcised”, the answer is Yes, he is.
As stated by him, and can be confirmed by any number of fellow players, coaches, and reporters who have been in NBA locker rooms.