The 1990s: Jordan era takes flight; Magic battles HIV virus

By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

The NBA rolled into the fall of 1991 with unlimited promise. Michael Jordan had just won his first championship, beating Magic Johnson in the NBA Finals. They were poised to lead a Dream Team. The 1992 Olympics were just a year away and for the first time would include NBA players, opening international doors the league previously couldn’t reach. Then Johnson announced that November he had contracted the HIV virus and would retire immediately. The news cast a cloud of doom over the NBA. But by the end of the decade, Johnson was changing the world’s view of AIDs and Jordan was completing the transformation of the league on the court.