Testing for AIDS Discussed

WASHINGTON —  Phoenix Sun guard Kevin Johnson has called for “some form of uniform testing” of players for AIDS in the wake of Magic Johnson’s disclosure that he has the virus that causes the fatal disease.

But Georgetown Coach John Thompson said singling out athletes for mandatory testing would be a violation of their privacy.

Johnson and Thompson appeared on ABC-TV’s “This Week with David Brinkley.”

Magic Johnson announced Thursday that he was retiring from the Lakers because he has the virus that triggers AIDS.

Kevin Johnson, asked about mandatory AIDS testing for athletes, said: “I think now that there will be some form of uniform testing.”

He conceded that the privacy question arises, but said he believed the NBA “will come up with something that we players and the players’ association can accept, just to set an example for young people.”

Thompson said he had “a problem with infringing on a person’s individual rights.”

He said an athlete doesn’t “have any more of a responsibility to be tested than you do or I do, or somebody in the street does, so I think it’s an infringement on a person’s individual rights if you just isolate athletics.”