The day Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive, the switchboard at the city of Los Angeles' AIDS office shut down because it couldn't handle all the calls coming in.
The fear and stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS was so great in November 1991 that the diseases were talked about in whispers and hushed tones, if they were talked about at all. Now here was one of the country's most popular athletes announcing that he had the dreaded disease.
'His disclosure alone, I would say, saved tens of thousands of lives,' said Phill Wilson, AIDS director for Los Angeles at the time. 'For the first time, we could have a different conversation in black communities. It allowed us to have an honest conversation, and it allowed us to get people into treatment.'
That, Donald Sterling, is what Magic Johnson has done. If you're going to have the arrogance to pass judgment on someone, you better make sure you have the facts right.
REBUTTAL: Magic responds to Sterling
The Los Angeles Clippers owner's attack on Johnson was, by far, the most disturbing part of his hour-long trainwreck of an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. Sterling chastised the Lakers Hall of Famer for being promiscuous, all but saying Johnson had only himself to blame for contracting HIV.
VIDEO: Did Sterling do himself even more damage?
'What kind of a guy goes to every city, he has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV,' Sterling told Cooper. 'Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about?'
Johnson may not be perfect, but he's devoted the second act of his career to trying to build people up. His foundation has awarded almost $4 million in college scholarships, with 85% of the recipients graduating within six years. His community centers have provided educational and vocational training for more than 250,000 people around the country.
His business ventures have created thousands of jobs, most in low-income, urban areas.
MORE: Clippers coach Rivers doesn't like owner's apology
But most of Johnson's energies have been devoted to HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention. Which is what makes Sterling's attack all the sadder. By demonizing Johnson, Sterling demonizes everyone with HIV and AIDS.
'I felt heartsick. I felt like this man singlehandedly attempted to dismantle the progress we've made,' said Wilson, now the president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute.
Johnson was to get his own say Tuesday night in his interview with Cooper.
Understanding of HIV and AIDS is light years ahead of what it was 23 years ago, and so is treatment. There may not be a cure yet. But as Johnson has so vibrantly shown, the diseases no longer mean a death sentence, either.
Yet the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS remains. According to a 2012 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on national health issues, 32% of respondents said they believed it was someone's own fault for getting AIDS.
That's not much of a drop from a decade ago, when the response was 40%.
Embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (L) speaks with CNN's Anderson Cooper during an interview Monday in which Sterling continued to make disparaging remarks about Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.(Photo: Reuters)
'Stigma serves the purpose of dividing society into the 'good' people and the 'bad' people -- those deserving of support and love and those who are not. Once you have divided a community in this fashion, how do you unite it again?' Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement.
'In particular, stigma against people who are HIV-positive is intended to make them feel as if their disease is their fault and they are not worthy of acceptance and support,' Weinstein said. 'Most of all, it keeps them in the shadows because they are embarrassed to tell their story for fear of being judged or excluded.'
Most people won't take Sterling or his vitriol seriously, dismissing it as the latest rant of a hateful and deluded man.
But, just like Marshall Henderson's 'experiment' with openly gay NFL player Michael Sam, the fact it even has to be addressed gives it a degree of legitimacy it doesn't deserve. Henderson, a former Ole Miss basketball player, Tweeted his disgust at the video of Sam kissing his boyfriend after being drafted by the St. Louis Rams, then tried to pass it off as part of a friend's psychology study.
The time and breath that has to be wasted on these small-minded folks would be far better spent seeking a greater good.
'I think he should be ashamed of himself,' Sterling said of Johnson.
No, Mr. Sterling. The shame is yours.
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