Legend 'Magic' Johnson and Abdul Jabbar to visit Jakarta
Legend 'Magic' Johnson and Abdul Jabbar to visit Jakarta
JAKARTA (JP): In December, it is Santa Claus. But in April, it
is basketball great Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who is going to come
to town.
And so is Kareem Abdul Jabbar, another living legend from the
National Basketball Association's (NBA's) Los Angeles Lakers. But
don't think this news is just an early April fool's joke.
While there will certainly be no problem about Kareem's
planned visit, from April 28-30, it appears NBA fans will also be
able to shake hands with the great power forward, Johnson, who
has admitted to being a carrier of the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.
Last year a plan to bring Johnson here was suspended amid
heated public debate concerning the player's health. This time,
though, the public's attitude towards Johnson's visit seems to be
one of indifference.
"Nobody has so far either opposed or expressed approval of the
revival of the plan to invite Johnson," promoter Ary Sudarsono
told The Jakarta Post yesterday. He added that he would be able
to give information about Johnson's schedule in Indonesia only
after the end of this, the Moslem fasting month.
Ary quoted Ron Rossen, Johnson's manager, as saying that
Johnson was still willing to come here, provided there were no
longer objections to his visiting here.
"We have been attending to everything necessary for him to
obtain formal permission to visit," Ary said.
On Jan. 25 last year Ary dropped the plan to organize an
Indonesian visit for the five-time NBA's most valuable player and
his team, the Magic Johnson All Stars, after the government
banned the superstar from entering the country.
If the Johnson trip does go ahead this April, he and his team
will play against the Australian Wild Cats, Ary said.
Originally, the plan was to pit Johnson's team of ten not only
against the Australians, but also against a Chinese team and an
Indonesian team, to have been made up of Indonesia's best
players.
However, the Chinese team is unable to come and "the
Indonesian team appears to be so far outclassed that we decided
not to pit it against Johnson's team," Ary said.
Marcel Maulana, another organizer working with Ary on the
Johnson visit, had previously told reporters that a fund of Rp
800 million (US$362,154) had been raised to help realize the
plan.
Marcel added that he had explained to Johnson that many
Indonesians still lacked understanding of HIV, just as Americans,
too, used to harbor ill-feeling towards those affected by the
disease.
As for Kareem's visit, Ary said he was "still waiting for his
formal reply."
The all-time great center will pay a courtesy visit to
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman and to the
chairman of the Indonesian Basketball Association, Harmoko, Ary
said.
Kareem, the Lakers' dominant force until his retirement in
1989, will also award a Cup named after him to the winner of an
elementary school basketball championship, Ary said. (arf/amd)