Magic Johnson Shocked the World When He Retired From Basketball in 1991

Basketball legend Magic Johnson might be in the GOAT conversation if he didn’t retire in 1991. The 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA selection, five-time NBA Champion, and three-time MVP only had one peer in the '80s (Larry Bird), and due to an illness, we’ll never know if could have dethroned Michael Jordan as the best player of the 1990s.

Magic stepped away from the game of basketball in November 1991, not long after competing in the most recent NBA finals. Magic didn’t retire because he wanted to; Magic retired because he was diagnosed with HIV.

After losing to the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA finals, Magic Johnson was still one of the best players in the game. But when he found out after a routine physical that he had contracted HIV before the start of the 1991–'92 NBA season, it instantly ended his on-court career. Well, he thought it ended his career.

The Lakers’ leader sat out the first two games of the season with "flu." Once Magic finally accepted the diagnosis, he held a press conference on Nov. 7, 1991, at the Forum. He said, "Because of the virus I have attained, I will have to retire from the Lakers."

Reporters asked him if he knew how much time he had left to live. They asked if his pregnant wife had the disease, if the baby had the disease. Magic told them he’d fight the disease, and that his wife and unborn child did not have it. He also said, "Safe sex is the way to go. We sometimes think only gay people can get it, that it's not going to happen to me. And here I am saying that it can happen to anybody, even me, Magic Johnson."

Magic ended the press conference saying, "I'm going to go on. I'm going to beat this, and I'm going to have fun." He was right. At a time when most people thought HIV was a death sentence, Magic did sort of beat it and definitely had some fun in the last 33 years.

Following his unexpected retirement, Magic was voted to play in the 1991–'92 NBA All-Star game. He was selected to be a member of the 1992 USA Basketball Team, better known as the Dream Team, and played in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He almost returned to the NBA for the 1992–'93 season but due to objections from some NBA players, he decided against it. At the end of the 1993–'94 season he became head coach of the Lakers. That lasted for just 16 games. After the 1994 season he purchased a 5 percent stake in the Lakers.

After four years mostly off the court, Magic returned to the Lakers as a player, coming off the bench, on Jan 29. 1996. He played 32 regular season games and all four games against the Houston Rockets in round 1 of the playoffs. The Lakers lost that series 3 games to 1 and Magic retired, this time for good, on May 14, 1996.

Though there are some players nearing 20 years in the league, it was not the norm in 1996. Hell, it isn’t even the norm now; NBA fans are just so used to players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry still playing at high levels after the age of 35 that we take it for granted. Magic retired at 36 because he was 36. On this final retirement, Magic said, “I am going out on my terms, something I couldn't say when I aborted a comeback in 1992.”