i needed this too. and so it was such a great honour to represent my country, the laker organisation, my family. so he says, "i'm glad you're happy, but there's one catch to it." isaid, "ok, commissioner stern, what is it?" he said, "you have to talk michaeljordan and larry bird "in the plane." i said, "oh, that's all i have to do to get on the team? !" so i said, "what can i do or say "to make them want to play?" larry was big on his family. so i said, "i'm going to go with that angle on larry bird." so i called larry up and i said, "listen, larry, "this is a chance for our kids to see us playing "in the olympics — not on the boston celtics, not on the lakers..." for the country. yes. for america. for america, representing our country. he said, "magic, my back is hurting." i said, "larry, you don't have to play 30 minutes a game. "you can just play ten minutes a game. "all i want to do is come down and do a no—look pass "to you and you shoot a three—pointer. "we both going to be very happy." he said, "all right, i'll play." i said, "good, so i got larry covered." now, the harder one was michaeljordan. so i said, "man, what can i say to michael? "he has everything, he's done everything. "he's already won championships. "he's already played for the olympic team." but i said, "you know what i'll tell him? "we're going to hang out every night and play cards together." and he can play golf all day, come to the game, just score 30 at half—time and go sit down. and guess what? that's what happened. the dream team, there will never be a team like that. every single guy is in the basketball hall of fame. no other team can claim that. and then we went out there and did ourjob and won the gold medal. and we had fun getting to know each other. that was the fun part. we beat everybody by over 42 points a game. arriving in spain with this incredible american aura behind you, at a time when you dominated basketball in a way that you don't, america doesn't so much today, but back then, you dominated basketball. did it feel special in some way? did it feel different? yes, it felt different because we did dominate, but it felt different because there was... our opponents from other countries — i don't care, australia, you name it, spain — they were... some players were crying because they always wanted to meet us. we were on their wall at home, and now they're actually playing against us. i remember a guy fouled me and hejust started crying, "oh, i can't believe... magic, ifouled you, oh!" and i didn't know how to respond, you know? did you know before you got there how you mattered to other players around the world, that there were players from croatia and africa, and did you understand what you meant to them? no, we didn't know. you don't know until a time like that happens, and then the time that really brought it all home and together, we came out to go to our first game to get on the bus. there must have been 30, 40, 50,000 people out there lining the streets. and as we went by, they just was cheering. but they were all from other countries, nobody from america. and it was the greatest moment for all of us to say, "wow, we're kind of special. "some people like us!" �*92, america dominated so much. the game has changed a lot, right? you look at the mvp players, the top mvp players in the states at the moment, many of them are from central europe. that's right. could you have done what you did as magicjohnson back then — in the �*80s and �*90s — today, when the game has changed as much as it has? well, you can still play in today's game, yes. i think that you're right because we opened up the game to the world. so that's why all these guys are playing in the nba today. the dream team is responsible forthat, right? and then a lot of american coaches who went over there to coach all over the world as well, or put on basketball clinics. so we have a lot of players from overseas who are now the best players in the game in the nba. when you look at the sport today, how else is it changing? what other changes are you seeing? and i'm looking at how the women's game is changing. you've got somebody like caitlin clark, this incredible phenomenon... yes. ..who looks like, single—handedly, she has risen women's basketball up to a different level. how is that changing the game? well, i think that, you know, just like larry bird and i changed the men's ncaa tournament forever, and then we changed the nba together forever, caitlin clark changed women's college basketball game forever, she's changing right now the wnba. and she's had an impact already, and she's only played one game so far as we're doing this interview, right? so let's talk about you. you have two names — magic and earvin. yes. how are they different? magic... ..is extremely competitive. i like to win at everything. i don't like to lose at nothing. and he's... because of that, he's a disciplined man, a perfectionist. he likes to do everything the right way. he's driven. and then earvin is smart. he likes to really be by himself. earvin...likes to be in a quiet room, chilling, and he's a... he loves deal making. so you have two personalities and two different people. who am i talking to? right now, it's earvin. when you start talking probably revenues and all that, you're talking to earvin, or mrjohnson. mr... i messed up, i was calling you magic. it should be, "mrjohnson, sir." they laugh your dad played basketball too, right? yes, yes. and i hear he was good. he was, he was... they told me he was good, and unfortunately he had to drop out. why? to make money, to drop out of school to help his parents put food on the table. he had to take a job, and back then, in the south, a lot of times, that's what... that's what you had to do. he grew up in a poorfamily, and so you had to fight for... ..to get money to put food on the table. so he had to go get a job and drop out of school. was that sad for you to realise he never got the chance to do what you've done? of course, and i told him that many times. and also i said, "dad, i'm going to play for you and myself. " and so if you go back in history and look at all my mvps, i dedicated to one person every single time, and that was my father. basketball�*s a sport... i'm not going to pretend for a minute that i know anything about basketball, ok? but i've been told basketball is a sport where stars really matter. yes. what was different about you is that you were a passer. you passed. why? i always first wanted to make my team—mates better and put them in a position to be successful. mm—hm. but the one story that changed my life was, i was a dominant scorer when i was a little kid. in school? seven, eight years old, nine years old. so the score would probably be 25 to, like, let's say 10 or 15. i would have 23 of the 25 points. and if it was 30 to 20, i would have 28 of the 30 points of my team. and one day, as we're coming out, we won the game... i could hear parents talking about, you know, "that kid", "thatjohnson kid, you know, he's taking every shot, "he's scoring all the points." and also my team—mates responded to their parents — "yeah, i'm mad i didn't score." and that hurt me a lot. that they were sad? yeah, that they were sad that they didn't score. so i told my parents... as we were driving home, i told them... i started crying because they were disappointed at me, like i was taking all the shots. and so my fatherjust said, "well, what are "you going to do? "what are you going to do about it? and i said, "well, i don't know right now, dad, "but by next saturday, i'm going to figure it out." so what i did was i decided, i was taller than most of the kids, too, so when i would get the offensive rebound, when one of my team—mates would shoot, instead of me putting it right back in because i'm up under the basket, i would pass it back out and give them more shots and more opportunities to score. and i kind of liked that feeling. as long as we won! so once we won, i said, "cool." i don't want nobody to mistake something about magicjohnson. i'm about winning. so if that kid was missing, i gave him two shots. if he missed, i'm going to start shooting. how do you handle losing? oh, i didn't handle losing well. i cried, i was upset, and... it didn't sit well with me, and i'm such a competitor and i think it made me a better basketball player. mm—hm. every time i lost, ijust did a deep dive into the reason why we lost and i wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. i didn't never want that feeling again. and so i carried that to high school, i carried that to college and then to the nba. 1991, you're diagnosed with hiv. you'd just got married, cookie�*s pregnant. how did you feel? that was probably the lowest moment of my life. first receiving the news that i had hiv, iwas... i was already... just, i couldn't believe it. i was in disbelief. you know, you think you make all the right moves and the right decisions and you put yourself... you were at the top. yes. you were flying. at the top of my game, everything was going well, and then this devastating news comes. walking into the doctor's office and him telling me that i had hiv, ijust... again, i just hit the floor because i couldn't believe it. and then as i sat there for a half hour to an hour, then i had to turn to cookie, because it's notjust about me now. it's also about her, too, being pregnant with our son ej at that time, and what did it mean for her, right? and the doctor couldn't answer that question. so, the longest ride that i ever had in my life was to go home to tell cookie i had hiv. and when i hit the door, she already knew something was wrong. and so i had to sit her down to explain to her, you know, i had hiv, and that just broke her heart. and that's what tore me up. you know, when you make a mistake, you also hurt the ones who love you and care about you, right? you disappoint them. and so, to see her cry, just... i just... i couldn't take it, you know? it was just so hard for me, because i only want to please her and make her happy. so then, you know, probably about 20 minutes of me holding her and so on, ijust said, "hey, i can "understand if you want to leave. "you know, i understand." and she turned to me and just smacked me so hard on my face and said, "we're going to beat this together." and we said a little prayer, and then we had to go to the doctor the next day for her to get the test. and you're talking about a long time, it seemed like it was a year to get the test results back. and once they came back and she was ok and the baby was ok, you're talking about the weight of the world off your shoulder? oh, i don't know what i would have did if... if she had hiv and my son had hiv, i don't know. i don't know if i'd be sitting here today, you know, because that would have... that would have devastated me emotionally. i probably wouldn't have been stable because everything... you know, here's this woman i met when i was 18 years old and i have loved since i met her. and so ijust... i just couldn't take it if something had to happen to her. so with her being ok now, i can focus back on me beating this and being here for a long time. there were basketball players who didn't want to play with you. that's right. or against me. oragainst you. because they were afraid. that's right. how... how did you feel at the time about that? how do you feel today about that? i was upset then. angry? yeah. very angry, you know, and so... but i got to give commissioner david stern a lot of credit. when he allowed me to play in the all—star game, that changed people's mind. and they saw that, first, nothing was going to happen to them. they saw me play at a high level. and it not only changed the basketball players�* mind, it changed the world. and then the dream team took it to another level, right? instead of uncertainty, there was love and respect. and now people got more educated after the dream team. but, yes, was there a heavy burden on my shoulders? of course, because when i would go to the games, you could see people were afraid to shake my hand or hug me like they used to, you know? it was... you could see it, and then i said, "ok." so i had to really, you know, just adjust to that. right. until they got comfortable again, right? so i'm a guy who can adjust. thank god i had that in me. i think i was the right person. i wasjust... i was the right person at the right time, because i will say this to you — i don't think another man could handle this situation. right? being that public, a lot of the sponsors dropped me. yeah. right? so they didn't want me to represent their companies any more. so a lot was going on at the same time. and so thank god my father built me to be strong and... you were the right person... i was the right person. ..to get infected with hiv? at the time, it was a death sentence. that's what i'm saying. it was the right person, a death sentence. could handle it all, so nothing but god that blessed me and put me in this situation and... and so... and here i am. here i am 32 years later. one of the longest running surviving activists in the field. talking of adapting, congratulations — you've just been named one of only four american athletes who have become billionaires. ooh! from a poor kid growing up, to even think about that is a blessing. you know, i've always wanted to become a businessman after i was done playing. has your success in business, in a whole kind of range of things, hotels, sports centres, soft drinks — i mean, you've done it all — has it made it easier to make that transition from being defined as one of the world's greatest basketball players to being something else? i always wonder how people who have been so great at something, then kind of redefine themselves when that thing stops being the centre of their life. perfect word, to redefine. i think that... reinvent, redefine... yes. we have the blueprint. i have the blueprint. can everybody do it? no. no, they don't... they're not going to be willing to put in the time that iput in. see, this camera is rolling now. i'm laughing, having a good time, but i'm up at 4.00 in the morning. you're in bed at 8.00 at night. i go to bed at 8.00. everybody know, don't call my house after 8.00 looking for me because i'm going to be asleep! see, i gravitate toward knowledge. i want to be smarter every single day. so for me to sit here, i'm honoured, because i know you and what you have accomplished. and i like to be around smart people and accomplished people, greatness. i love rubbing elbows with that. there are a lot of young kids going into the olympics, right? some of them are crazy... 16. yes, very young. very young. what's your advice to young athletes who are at the top of their game already in their teens? first, enjoy the moment and live in the moment. love paris? yes, love paris, enjoy it. enjoy being 16. that's the first thing. second, you're earning money. please get you a business manager. please. i didn't know money when i grew up. my parents didn't know money. so when i got to the nba, i had to find people who knew money. that's why i'm sitting here, right? i did something different from most athletes. i got me a true business manager to teach me. so young people out there, enjoy the olympics, enjoy yourself, but you're going to make money. so make sure somebody is there who has the knowledge to help you understand. they forget this one thing — there's taxes to that money! so if you're making 200,000, 300,000, young people, the irs will be calling. so, enjoy. enjoy yourself, meet people from all over the world, and then don't get ahead of yourself. and i think a lot of young people sometimes, they get burnt out on their sport, or now they think their parents can't help them or tell them nothing because they got this gold medal or they achieved greatness. no, your parents are there for a reason. they know, everything you're trying to achieve, everything you have to go through, your parents already been through it, so lean more on them as you get success, not go away from them. lean more on them. all right, i'm going to throw it to you. ok, i caught it! i caught it. i saw that! 0h! too high. right there. ok, come on, let's take a step back. 0k. right there. now, remember, your right hand has to be right directly behind the ball. right there. there you go. now... ..there it is! i told you! you are a pro now, see? see, that's all you had to do. you're a pro now. that's it, that's it! go home. wrap, wrap, wrap. cut! hello, there. let's take a look at the weather for the week ahead. scotland and northern ireland saw the warmest day of the year so far. 27 celsius in parts of aberdeenshire, but compare that to tuesday afternoon's temperatures within the same areas — just 12, 13 celsius again for eastern scotland, so quite the drop there, and that cooling trend will continue from the north and the west, as we head through the next couple of days or so. some showers around, at times — the heat and humidity last longest across england and wales but, again, that will be gone by the time we get to the end of the day on thursday, and you can just see this cooler—feeling air on wednesday, shown in lighter colours, that will threaten its way further southwards and eastwards. quite a muggy, warm start on wednesday morning, for most of us. we will have seen plenty of low cloud rolling into north sea—facing coasts, that's running back towards the coast, as we head through the afternoon, so burning back, sunshine and showers for scotland. a fine day for most in northern ireland, clouding over later. of course, we keep the heat and humidity, the sunshine, across much of england and wales — temperatures in the mid—to—high 20s — locally, perhaps, 30 degrees. but here's our cold front that's trailing down from this area of low pressure that will bring the fresher—feeling airfor all, and that will be pushing further eastwards, as we head through thursday. rather windy conditions for much of the day across scotland and for northern ireland. it will take most of the day for that cooler—feeling air to filter into south—east england and east anglia, so temperatures here probably still in the mid—20s, at least. but that cold front pushes further eastwards to the near continent, low pressure remains across the far north of the uk, so across northern areas of scotland, we are likely to see some further outbreaks of rain, as we head through friday. a much fresher feel through the course of the morning. a few showers out to the north and the west, but further south, it is looking largely dry, and there still will be some sunshine around, as well, and, of course, it's still warm in the sunshine at this time of year, so it will help to lift the temperatures, somewhat. but, generally, the high teens, the low—20s in celsius, much closer now to the seasonal average. into the weekend, and not a lot is set to change, but these weather fronts could just start to graze central areas of the uk, bringing some outbreaks of rain, perhaps, across northern ireland, northern wales and into northern england for a time. to the north of that front, we are likely to see a few showers, but some sunny spells to the south. it's probably looking mostly dry, and again, sunshine will help to boost the temperatures somewhat — the low—20s, i think, for many, towards the south, and cooler further north, and it is the same sort of thing on sunday, really. low pressure still towards the north, so some showers here, but largely dry further south, and of course there will be some sunny spells around, as well. generally, temperatures between 16 and 23 celsius, north to south. let's take a look at the following week, then. we've still got these westerly winds, so the air won't be particularly warm, still rather unsettled, too, with areas of low pressure moving in from the north and the west, so tending to be wet in the north—west, and a little drier towards the south and east. we could perhaps, in southern areas, see a lot of dry weather, as we head through the week. there will be some sunshine, at times, but always watch out for some showers. temperatures, of course, much lower than they were to start the week. bye—bye for now. a sand live from washington, this is bbc news. julian assange leaves court a free man after pleading guilty in a deal after long battle with the us. dramatic images in kenya — at least five people were killed during protests over a controversial tax bill. and the us surgeon—general declares gun violence a public health crisis. hello. welcome to bbc news. i'm sumi somaskanda. after a 1a—year legal battle, the founder of wikileaks, julian assange, has left court a free man. the judge told him it was reasonably to accept the 16 months in the us prison as a sentence. the sentencing took place in a remote us territory in the western pacific because he refused to travel to the us mainland concerned he would not be able to leave. he pleaded guilty to a single charge of espionage as part of a deal with us authorities to secure his release. he is now free to return to his native australia and going on that way. the justice department says he may not return to the us unless he has permission. the 52—year—old charged by us officials in 2024 linking a large amount of us military information from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. we see the plane taking off this is the airfield we see the plane taking off from saipan on the north mariana islands, he is heading straight to the airfield after court