Michael Jordan cried. Larry Bird, his greatest rival, insisted it could not be true. Magic Johnson’s wife Cookie thought he was about to die, as did millions around the world, when he said on November 7, 1991, that he was infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids. “We’re going to watch him die, wither away in the most public fashion, on each occasion look a little weaker because he can’t do it any other way,” one columnist wrote.

But Magic will turn 50 this year and has remained in the limelight. The LA Lakers — the team he led to five National Basketball Association (NBA) championships and in whom he is a major shareholder — look invincible in the NBA finals and he looks strong and healthy in the TV studio, talking up Kobe Bryant and showing one of the world’s most infectious smiles. He has plenty to smile about.

Having remade himself as a businessman, he boasts “the No 1 urban brand in America and the No 1 urban real estate firm in America”. His vision of revitalising depressed inner-city communities by providing quality entertainment services and creating jobs for local minority groups has brought Starbucks, TGI Friday’s, 24-hour fitness centres and multiplex movie theatres into the heart of Harlem and South Central Los Angeles.

“We’re putting 15,000 people from minority communities to work right now in 91 cities and 44 states across the length and breadth of America,” he explains. “I have 101 Starbucks, 14 fitness clubs, more restaurants than I can count right now. Magic Johnson theatres and all of these establishments are driving the community because people enjoy going in their own communities to a movie, to Starbucks or just to work out. We’ve got people jobs and it’s changed their lives.”

Some of the South Central gang members who were turned away from the construction sites and threatened to picket his theatres before he told them to apply for jobs like everybody else helped him build this urban empire. “We put 20 of them to work and 10 of them stayed on full-time and they were able to stop gang-banging and start taking care of their families, which is what we wanted to accomplish all along,” he says. “You can make money and do good all at the same time.”

And Magic has made money. “We’re probably down about 10% business-wise but that’s not too bad in a tough environment,” he says. “I have a real estate firm called the Canyon Johnson Fund and I have $1billion in cash right now. We’re buying distressed assets, so my firms will do very well in the bad economy because prices for apartment buildings or mixed use with retail malls and housing condominiums will fall. We just bought one of the largest suppliers to Burger King and we supply ground beef to supermarkets and other fast food restaurants.

“Harlem, for example, is doing very well because of us. We brought Harlem back. The Magic Johnson theatre and Starbucks went in there and now other retailers have followed us. When I went in you could buy a brownstone house for probably $150,000. Now brownstones are going for $1m. This means everything to me because I grew up in a similar neighbourhood. Now they look at me as a guy who was successful and came back and helped those who also want to be successful. I’m providing that opportunity for them.

“But all of this was a big struggle because the financial institutions doubted the urban community and urban consumers. I am one of the first African-Americans to get institutional capital to invest with because we were able to show the banks that you can make money in urban America. We returned to our partners 30% on $300m, we ran about 18% on the last $600m and we plan to do well on the $1billion. I’m hands-on. In fact, I’m a control freak. Most days I know how much popcorn was sold in my theatres the night before and how much coffee was sold in my Starbucks. It’s my name and my money and I don’t fool around with that.”

Some 13 years after he last played in the NBA, having made a brief comeback in the 1995-96 season, he remains driven by the same powerful forces which made him the greatest point guard in the history of professional basketball. When he was 16 his best friend, Reggie Chastine, was killed in a car crash. Earvin, as his father and mother christened the sixth of their ten children, should have been in the car with Reggie.

But that night he cried off. It was Reggie who saw the potential for greatness in his friend and convinced him of the magic and it was Reggie whom he saw again in his dreams after he had become infected with HIV, which he acknowledges was the consequence of a promiscuous lifestyle. In his dreams Reggie’s message was clear: You can’t quit, you can’t back down, you beat the odds before and you’ll beat this too.

“People were not as aware about HIV and Aids as they are today, so some basketball players were afraid to come close to me in case they could catch something from my sweat,” he reflects. “This devastated me because I had to give up a game that I loved. Then the Olympics came about and this gave me an opportunity to play again, to show the world that a guy who has HIV can get out and play professional basketball at a high level and nothing will happen to any other guy. That really helped the world in dealing with HIV and Aids and I needed that too, because it helped me to believe that I’m going to beat this disease, I’m going to do what I’m supposed to do and I’m going to take my meds. It rejuvenated me.

“In the beginning there was only one drug, AZT, but now there are around 30 drugs. I take three pills a couple of times a day. It’s real easy. The drugs are so much better and so much easier to take than when I first contracted the disease.

“I go to Congress and talk about it and I go around the world and speak out against discrimination of people who have HIV and Aids. I’m really involved and I will always be involved. I will celebrate my 50th birthday in August and it’s a milestone. I’m not the type of guy to doubt myself. I’m always positive and I love challenges. I’ve always seen this as just another one — a big one, but it’s good.”

Bryant puts Lakers on target for title

KOBE BRYANT and LeBron James are on the cover of Slam magazine under the headline, “Let’s Get It On!” But James’ Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated and Bryant is threatening to make the NBA finals a one-man show after scoring 40 points in LA Lakers’ 100-75 destruction of Orlando Magic in Game 1. Only Michael Jordan, Jerry West and Shaquille O’Neal have posted similar numbers — Bryant also had eight assists and eight rebounds — in a finals game. “I want this so bad,” the 30-year-old shooting guard said before Game 2 tonight at the Staples Center in LA. “This time around we’re just really locked in.”

Bryant was in the Lakers sides that lost to Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics in the NBA finals in 2004 and last year. The Lakers have been unsuccessful since Bryant and O’Neal captured successive championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. “I’m not about to revisit all of that,” Bryant insisted. Instead he is focused on leading his team to glory, this time on his own.