The New York Times - Sunday, December 1, 1991
Charles Grantham*

Few people have escaped the personal jolt of Earvin Johnson's disclosure that he is infected with the virus that causes AIDS -- not his family and friends, not his Laker teammates or management officials, not current and retired players, not the families of players and certainly, not the millions of fans who watched his televised news conference. The dignity of Earvin's words and demeanor continue to be talked about around the world.

There are other aspects to his announcement that are as serious and complicated, but no less human. They involve the impact on the National Basketball Players Association, the exclusive bargaining representative of all N.B.A. players. The association is, first and foremost, a labor organization dedicated to providing quality representational services to those 350 players. This is our daily charge.

That's why, as Earvin's friends and admirers, we agonized over his news in one instant and grasped the urgency of our task in the next. The association was presented with an enormous responsibility and we were not the only people to sense it. Shortly after Earvin's remarks, the ringing telephone confirmed our gut reaction. The media wanted to know the association's position on mandatory testing.

Fully aware that AIDS testing is a polarizing, emotional issue, we wondered if we were prepared for dealing with the poignant dilemma of a friend while handling our responsibilities to him and all N.B.A. players. This was not the time to shoot from the hip.

On the contrary, this was a time for gathering the facts that will provide the solid framework for an intelligent, rational dialogue with our players and, ultimately, the evolution of league-wide policies on voluntary testing. With the benefit of three weeks' hindsight, that remains our position.

In that time, we have researched AIDS-testing policies and found that counseling before and after a test is standard public health practice. How could that be provided on a confidential basis to the most visible of men? We also found that while cries for mandatory testing often are raised, Federal and local legislatures have not passed laws to support them.

Part of the "magic" of Earvin's presence at his news conference is that he helped all of us gain perspective. He emphasized correctly that the virus and AIDS have to be approached as a public-health concern. Our conversations with experts in the public-health field since then have convinced us that he's right. Today, we can offer comfort, but before the association can offer advice, guidance or policy, it must have a program.

I received several calls from our members who were concerned about mandatory versus voluntary testing. Athletes live and work in a fishbowl, and are often held to a higher set of standards, but they also participate in the communities where they live and work, and are committed to the same quality-of-life issues as all of us. They also wish to be treated with compassion, dignity and respect.

As people first, they are concerned about AIDS, its transmission and cure. This is not a sports or athlete issue. This is a human issue that transcends race, economic status and gender. The establishment of a policy must begin with a program concentrating on education and confidential counseling that focuses on delivering full and complete information.

The cry for mandatory testing of athletes is discriminatory, unfounded and unwarranted. At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that the virus has been transmitted through casual contact or as a result of physical contact during athletic competition. This is a time for compassion and common sense, not rumor and speculation.

We concluded, therefore, that the association needed the services of a health institution with impeccable credentials as a research facility. We needed to work with experts who understand the confusing and complicated nature of dealing with this frightening virus -- from its basic research and epidemiology to an appreciation for the culture of professional sports and the ethical implications of privacy. Always, the bottom line is the welfare and rights of our members, retired players and families. Yet we can't lose sight of the fact that the world is watching.

Contact with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore has reinforced our original decision to move ahead with deliberation. Their researchers and health educators share our conviction that HIV is a human issue as well as a fact of science.

This talking and information-gathering will lead next week to what we hope will be a model comprehensive program on AIDS education, counseling and confidential, anonymous, voluntary testing for association members, former players and families. This program will eventually lead to a policy on voluntary testing and counseling.

It is a complicated policy to pull together, but when it is announced it will be a pro-active approach to a fact of life, not merely a reaction to a courageous and heartbreaking revelation.

*Charles Grantham is the executive director of the National Basketball Association Players Association.

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