No Johnson Puns Necessary: Magic Had A LOT Of Sex In The '80s

It was the early 1980s... It was Los Angeles... He was Magic Johnson. But even so, this is pretty amazing. From a forthcoming biography on former Lakers GM Jerry West:

That November, as a new season was set to open, Magic Johnson announced to the world that he was HIV positive, a stunning event that brought revelations about the climate of sexual frivolity around the Lakers. Johnson admitted he had been sleeping with 300-500 people a year. The team’s locker room, and its sauna, had been a place where the star and other players had entertained women, even right after games. Johnson would retire to the sauna after a game, have sex, then put on a robe and return to the locker room for his post-game media interviews.

So "entertaining" in the sauna, eh? Classier than the training room, at least.

And while it's obviously a pretty emphatic cautionary tale—it's no coincidence that the passage starts with an excerpt about Magic's HIV announcement—that makes it no less amazing. Think about that: 500 a year? It was a different culture and excess reigned, but God.

And the most ironic part is that Magic, with his HIV diagnosis, almost single-handedly brought an end to the permissive sexual culture that reigned in the '80s. The losers there? Guys like the Orlando Magic's Anthony Johnson:

In simpler times, he'd be taking home 500-a-year...

(HT: The Score)