David Stern Admits NBA Player Other Than Magic Contracted HIV in His Career

RadioOnFire.com - Nov. 7 was the 25th anniversary of Magic Johnson announcing he was HIV positive and subsequently retiring from the NBA.  During his famous press conference, Johnson addressed leaving the Lakers as then NBA commissioner David Stern sat at his side.

Stern served as the NBA commissioner from 1984-2014 and said this wasn't his only experience of finding out a player tested positive for HIV.

Via Bill Oram of The Orange County Register:

Stern said he knew of one other NBA player to contract HIV during his tenure as commissioner, but that the diagnosis came after the player’s career ended, was not made public, and that the player has since died.

If another player tested positive for HIV, Stern said, the public might not even know about it

“There’s not necessarily a reason to announce,” he said, “and if you asked me do I think that amongst all of the professional athletes in the country or the world, whether there are other HIV positive athletes, I think there probably are.”

Johnson announced his status at a time when the stigma against HIV was much worse than it is today.  Many people thought it was a disease that only affected the gay community, and there were still questions about its transmission.  Johnson became the face of HIV, spreading knowledge and showing that it could be fought. The progress made also enables players to keep their medical issues private if he so chose.

Source: nba.nbcsports.com