Why Magic Johnson's Wife Threatened To Leave Him Despite Sticking By His Side During His AIDS Battle
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At the height of Magic Johnson's athletic career, millions of people believed he was the best player in the NBA. Thanks to how skilled Magic was on the court, he will almost certainly be best remembered as an all-time basketball great once he passes away.
As wonderful as it is that Magic's athletic talents ensured that he is thought of in the same breath as famous and rich players like Michael Jordan, some things matter more. A perfect example of that is that it is even more important that Magic has a great relationship with his family.
Now that Magic's son EJ has become famous enough that fans want to know how much money he is worth, people have been paying attention to the basketball great's relationship with his kids. On the other hand, a lot of people don't know much about Magic's relationship with his wife.
Married since 1991, Magic and Cookie Johnson seem very happy today from the outside looking in. However, as it turns out, Cookie once threatened to end her marriage with Magic if he didn't follow through on something they agreed to.
How Did Cookie Johnson React When Magic Johnson Was Diagnosed With HIV?
In 2019, arguably the most popular star of the Netflix series Queer Eye, Jonathan Van Ness, came forward to announce that he is HIV positive. Of course, some jerks had terrible reactions to that news. However, the vast majority of people who cared greeted Van Ness' announcement with love and support.
In an ideal world, everyone who has been diagnosed with HIV throughout history would have received love and support when they came forward with that news. In reality, however, that definitely isn't the case.
Instead, there was a time when a lot of people who were diagnosed with HIV then had to face hatred and fear when others learned of their status. In fact, there was a time when people were so afraid of HIV that they refused to touch or be in the same room as sufferers.
By the year 1991, there still were lots of people who were extremely afraid of HIV and anyone who had it. That same year, Magic Johnson called a press conference to announce that he was HIV positive and that he was retiring from basketball.
Before Magic shared the news of his diagnosis with the world, he had to tell his family and loved ones. Most notably, Magic had to tell his wife the news that clearly would have a lot of implications for her.
In 2021, Magic was interviewed by CBS Morning's Gayle King, and he spoke about having to tell his wife Cookie Johnson the news. While it isn't surprising that Magic was afraid to tell Cookie, it is still fascinating to know how Magic described how he felt as he prepared to tell his wife the news.
"It was hard because I loved her so much and I hated to hurt her. I've played against some of the best basketball players in the world, right? I've been in championships. I've been in nine [NBA] Finals, so I know pressure. But there was no greater pressure than driving home to tell her."
On top of the possible implications for Magic's wife Cookie, the situation was further complicated by the fact that she was carrying the basketball great's baby at the time. As Magic also described in that interview, the moment that Cookie was tested was a gigantic deal.
"The key moment was when Cookie took the test and the results came back that her and the baby was fine." Magic also said he was "scared to death" before he knew his wife and child were safe. "I wanted to make sure that she was going to be okay, the baby was going to be okay, and then I can move forward with making sure I was going to be okay."
During the same conversation that Magic told Cookie he was HIV positive and that she and their baby could be in danger, he also had to reveal that he got the virus through contact with another woman. Despite all of that, Magic said that Cookie was mostly concerned about one thing.
"It was, 'You're possibly going to die.' And that trumped everything." Finally, Magic spoke about how ignorant people were about HIV when he was diagnosed and how worried he was that could affect his family.
"At that time, people weren't educated, so they thought you couldn't touch people." Magic continued, "You couldn't hug people. And I didn't want people to treat us like we were lepers."
Despite the social stigma, the contact with another woman, and everything else, Cookie never wavered in her support for Magic from all accounts.
What Made Cookie Johnson Threaten To Leave Magic Johnson?
After Magic Johnson told the world he was HIV positive, and he was going to retire, virtually everyone thought his athletic career was over. However, Magic joined the 1992 Men's Olympic team called the "Dream Team" and he played in the 1992 All-Star game.
After he looked great while playing in the Olympics and All-Str game, Magic announced plans to return to basketball for most of a full season. However, that ultimately didn't happen.
While playing an exhibition game before he returned for the 1992 Lakers' season, Magic got cut on the court. When Magic saw how afraid the other players on the court were in response to his small cut, he abandoned his plans with the Lakers in 1992.
Back when Magic first held a press conference to announce his planned return to the Lakers in 1992, a lot of fans were overjoyed with the news. However, Magic revealed in that press conference that his biggest fan was less than thrilled.
According to Magic's comments at that press conference, Cookie threatened to leave him if he tried to return for more than one season. In fact, Magic said that he has to bribe his wife to even get her to approve of him returning for one season.
“My wife told me, ‘That’s it, one (season) and get out.’ Or she’ll leave me. Cookie always told me I was coming back: ‘No way you’re working out three times a day, and you’re not coming back, you can’t tell me. . . .’ I said, ‘You haven’t given me your OK yet.’ So I bribed her. I gave her a million dollars.”
In response to Magic's comments, Cookie retorted “It was a lot more than that.”
Whether Magic actually gave Cookie the million or he was joking, it seems very clear that Cookie was against Magic staging a lengthy return. Ultimately, Magic did return to the Lakers in 1996, and then he retired for the final time after only playing in 32 games during a single season.
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