Decades before LeBron James and Dwyane Wade straddled a floating banana to become this generation’s poster children for BFFs, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas donned their Daisy Dukes to kiss at half-court before each of their iconic NBA duels. Not only were the two men considered the best point guards of their era (sorry, John Stockton), but they were also best friends.
Then something happened.
Some reporters, whose names I will not mention (let’s just call this hypothetical person Breanna Edwards, whose job title at The Root may or not be news editor), are too young to remember when Magic Johnson blackballed the Detroit Piston All-Star from the 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team. More commonly known as “the Dream Team,” it is still considered the greatest collection of basketball players ever assembled.
Johnson admits that he kept Thomas off the team because Thomas spread rumors that Johnson was gay or bisexual after Johnson announced in 1991 that he was HIV-positive. Since then, the two men had not spoken—until Tuesday night, when they reunited on an NBA TV broadcast.
Johnson apologized to Thomas as the two shared memories of their yearslong friendship. With tears in his eyes, Johnson told Thomas: “You are my brother. Let me apologize if I hurt you.”
Thomas, clearly emotional, broke down in a bawl that hasn’t been publicly seen since the iconic all-out bawl-out on that famous episode of Intervention. In fact, in the spirit of renewed friendships and men being unafraid to share their emotions, let us end this article with that beautiful moment captured a few years ago (just in case Breanna hasn’t seen it).
You’re welcome.