Growing up in the spotlight as the child of a huge sports hero is challenging enough without any extra stress, but Magic Johnson's openly gay son is grateful to his famous father for helping him go public with his sexuality.

“In the midst of all this media attention I would like to say that I am truly blessed to have parents that love and support me,” Earvin Johnson III, one of the former NBA star’s three children with wife Cookie, tweeted on Wednesday.

EJ, a 20-year-old student at New York University, was first spotted hand-in-hand with his unnamed boyfriend on L.A.'s Sunset Strip on Monday,