Magic: The Time Is Right Nba, L.A. Teammates Support Return Of Hiv-Positive Johnson

The prime of Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s basketball career has skittered away like a loose ball, but the man who defined the Los Angeles Lakers in their glory years will be back on an NBA court tonight.

He’ll be introduced to the crowd at the Great Western Forum before a game that counts for the first time since June 12, 1991. The Lakers play Golden State.

“I didn’t think I went out the way I wanted to before. That’s why I’m back,” Johnson said Monday as he announced his return. “I think the time is right now.”

It is also now or never for Johnson, 36, who retired before the 1991-92 season, after learning he was HIV-positive, having contracted the virus that leads to AIDS.

In the interim, Johnson has stayed around the game of basketball, made one aborted comeback in 1992, and learned to live with the virus. According to him, it is important that those around him understand his return won’t endanger his fellow players.

“David Stern has done a wonderful job educating the players,” Johnson said about the NBA commissioner. “I played against these guys all the time in the summer, anyway. I’ve played games with my (touring exhibition) team against national teams, all-star teams. You name it. Everything is fine, the time is right, and it’s definitely a happy time for me.”

Johnson thought long and hard, though.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think I’ve been kicking myself too long. I should have been back a long time ago, but I think the time is right. The Lakers are playing well right now, I think they are doing a tremendous job, I see as a team that they are ready to make their move, I think coach (Del) Harris has figured out a way for me to come in and play. But the main reason, I think, is that (wife) Cookie and I have prayed on it and God has been blessing me, so it’s time to come back.

“It’s been a long time coming. I’ve probably been disappointed, frustrated and the whole thing that I didn’t do it before. … So this is like relief, in a sense, for my own mind. You sit in bed at night and watch all these games, I go to every Lakers (home) game and sit there, and you struggle, you struggle, you struggle with it. So now I’m just happy it’s over with and I’m back and now I’m doing what I love to do.

“I wanted my son and my daughter to see me play. I didn’t think I went out the way I wanted to go out before. That’s the reason I’m back. I’m also back because the Lakers have put themselves in a position to hopefully do some good things, and I hope that I can be a part of it.”

Johnson, who helped lead the Lakers to five championships in 12 seasons, comes back not as a silky 6-foot-9 point guard, but as a bulked-up reserve power forward.

“I’m not going to have to dominate the game or anything,” he said. “I don’t have to come back and take the role I had before. I’ll come back and play a different type of game.”

Johnson signed a contract that will pay him $2.5 million for the rest of the season. Because of league rules, he had to sell back to owner Jerry Buss the 5-percent interest in the team he purchased in 1994.

He rejoins a team that is 24-18 and capable, with a little help, of making a deep playoff run. Adding Magic Johnson qualifies as help.

“There’s no question about that,” general manager Jerry West said. “He will not embarrass himself at all. He’s still a very, very good player.”“We’re happy to welcome Earvin back,” Stern said.

When Johnson first considered coming back in November 1992, playing several exhibition games before deciding against it, his decision not to return was based on the fear he saw in some teammates and opponents.

“We’re more knowledgeable about the situation now,” said Utah power forward Karl Malone, who was among those expressing trepidation three years ago.

Guard Vernon Maxwell of the 76ers was one of the few who said Johnson’s return bothers him.

“If you get scratched on your hand and then he gets an open wound, I don’t want to be in there with that,” Maxwell said.

“I saw all the quotes,” Johnson said. “They’ve all been pretty positive. Maxwell said something. Maxwell never cared about nobody else, anyway, and now, all of a sudden, he cares about everybody in the world.”

According to research, it is virtually impossible to contract the HIV virus without sexual contact. Since Johnson’s retirement, the NBA has taken steps to protect players and referees by requiring a game be stopped if any player is bleeding and that player leave the game.

Johnson was 225 pounds when he retired. He’s nearly 30 pounds heavier now, but a regimen of weightlifting allows him to carry the weight well. His face is rounder and his eyes more vigilant, no longer those of a wide-eyed youngster. But the effervescent smile still glows like a beacon when he makes a play on the court.

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Bob Ford Philadelphia Inquirer The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.