Magic Johnson admits he struggled to come to terms with his son EJ's sexual orientation: "I saw that he liked dolls and to play dress up"

When his wife Cookie gave birth to a baby boy on June 4, 1992, Magic Johnson named the child after himself, perhaps hoping that he would carry on his legacy as a basketball icon. But Earvin Johnson III grew up differently.

Instead of picking up the basketball, EJ was kind of feminine. Magic didn't think he was gay right away, but when he started getting into girl things, that's when the basketball legend began to question his namesake son.

"When you grow up in team sports, you're thinking, 'Is he gonna play sports? '" said Magic. "And then when I saw that he liked dolls and to play dress-up … 'What are you doing?'"

Cookie knew it was time to talk

Magic was a famous sports figure, even after his retirement. Because of that, he was always busy and never really got close enough to know his son's private life. On the other hand, Cookie was often with EJ. Mrs. Johnson already suspected her son was gay, but it wasn't until an incident during a vacation in Hawaii that she knew it was time to talk.

" We went to Hawaii once and I'm sitting behind him and his friend," Cookie recalled ." The girls go by in their bathing suits and the guys go by and when the guys go by, they were like, 'Whoa! Hey!' and then girls go by and nothing. So I was like, okay, we need to have a talk."

But while it wasn't hard for Cookie to accept his son's sexual orientation, Magic was 'tough' on EJ when he first came out and opened up to him. Father and son didn't have a smooth relationship until after college, but Magic finally accepted EJ with open arms. Now, Magic and EJ are the inspiration of many parents and kids who are in the same boat.

MJ even advice from Magic

Even the great Michael Jordan once approached Magic to ask for advice on having a gay child . This was when MJ's only daughter from his first marriage, Jasmine, got involved in a romantic relationship with a female college basketball player in college, and Mike didn't know what to do.

"Michael is having mixed emo­tions that his only daughter could be gay," an insider revealed via The National Enquirer as reported by BSO . "Michael loves all of his kids unconditionally, but he was shocked to find out about Jasmine. He never saw it coming."

Jasmine eventually ended up straight, getting engaged to basketball player Rakeem Christmas. They never got married but have a son, Rakeem Michael, making MJ a first-time grandpa. Meanwhile, EJ continues to get full support and love from Magic as he thrives in his chosen life.

Related: “Without those two, I probably wouldn’t be here” - Magic Johnson named two heroes that turned his spirits around during his HIV diagnosis