Earvin 'Magic' Johnson won five NBA championships and three MVP awards during his iconic Hall-of-Fame career, but his time on the court was disrupted 30 years ago when he was diagnosed with HIV.
Johnson, now 62, discovered he had the virus during a physical exam before the 1991-92 season.
Thinking the disease was a death sentence due to the lack of available scientific information on it at the time, he announced his retirement from basketball soon after.
While Johnson would play basketball again, featuring on U.S.A. Basketball's 1992 Olympics team and playing a stint with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996, the diagnosis ended the prime of his career, and changed his life forever.
Thirty years later, living life with HIV is not as challenging as it was in the 1990s, and Magic is looking back at the moment his life changed forever through an interview with CBS News.
Earvin 'Magic' Johnson was diagnosed with HIV 30 years ago, and feared that the virus would kill him. Pictured: Johnson speaks to CBS' Gayle King about his HIV diagnosis
Johnson announced at a sudden press conference on November 7, 1991, to announce that he had HIV and would immediately retire from playing basketball. Pictured: Johnson announces his diagnosis at a press conference in Los Angeles, California
On November 7, 1991, 30 years to the day on Sunday, Johnson's team, the Los Angeles Lakers, called a sudden press conference during which the player revealed to the world his diagnosis, and that it would end his basketball career.
'Because of the HIV virus that I have attained, I will have to retire from the Lakers today,' Johnson said during the conference.
He then assured the public that he had not yet developed AIDS as a result of HIV, and his wife, Cookie, was negative as well.
'I plan on going on and living for a long time,' Johnson said, grinning, and attempting to show the world that he was at peace with his diagnosis.
He revealed to CBS This Morning, though, he was actually confused, and even feared his own death.
'You just sit there and say: "What does this mean? Am I gonna die?"' Johnson told co-host Gayle King about his thoughts when he got the diagnosis.
'I'm asking him 100 times, 'Are you sure?''
'And they say: "Hey, we ran the tests a couple of times, and yes, you do have HIV." And so I just lost it right there, you know?'
Johnson was a five time NBA champion and three time MVP when he suddenly retired in 1991. Pictured: Johnson celebrates winning the 1987 NBA Finals alongside his Los Angeles Lakers teammates
Due to his high-profile as an NBA star, Johnson was one of the most well-known people in the U.S. to publicly be living with HIV. Pictured: Johnson plays a game at the Forum in Los Angeles, California
At the time, an HIV or AIDS diagnosis was seen as a death sentence.
The virus first began to appear in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, and confused experts when they found a sudden wave of gay men contracting a rare form of pneumonia.
An outbreak of AIDS swept across communities of gay men
