The New (and Old) NBA

By Steve Lopez/Los Angeles

If you have any doubt that this country has lost its sense of moral outrage, take a look at the delayed start of the National Basketball Association season. In prouder times, no self-respecting nine-to-fiver would have clamored to get into an exhibition game after being taken for granted during a six-month labor scrum between billionaire owners and millionaire slam-dunk artists. That fan would have followed Michael Jordan's lead and walked away from the game.

Instead, Latrell Sprewell, suspended last season for the attempted decapitation of his coach at Golden State, resurfaces as a New York Knick, and what happens? He gets a warm ovation from fans. Meanwhile, 76% of those polled by the Los Angeles Times said the lockout would not affect whether they watch a game. These are Bill Clinton numbers. Greed, self-indulgence, infidelity. No problem. We live in the age of forgiveness, and by the way: Can you score me two tickets for the sold-out Lakers-Rockets opener?

"Two-fifty," a young scalper was saying last Friday outside the Forum in Los Angeles. For two tickets? Face value for a single is an insane $125, and these bums aren't even in shape yet. "Two-fifty for one," says the scalper. "Five hundred dollars for two."

Basketball's all-time biggest draw retires to the golf links, the second-rate wannabes he turned into multimillionaires snivel about their economic hardship, and the league still finds ways to fill the tent. The NBA, which could sell swimsuits to Eskimos, has even put topspin on Jordan's departure: with the Chicago Bulls out to pasture, anyone can take the title.

To be sure, attendance and TV ratings could tank after the novelty of the first few games. Sneaker companies are already pulling back on player endorsements. Laker legend Magic Johnson believes the style of play and the marketing have to change. The NBA game, which used to be speed and motion, has gone flat for most teams. The league has promoted superstars, not teams, and the play reflects it. "Magic vs. [Larry] Bird was big," Johnson told TIME. "But it became so much bigger because it was the Lakers and the Celtics. I'm hoping we can get back to that."

The Indiana Pacers actually play that way under Coach Bird. But the Lakers-Rockets game was not what Johnson had in mind. It was a sloppy, out-of-breath affair that at times resembled a Catholic Youth Organization game with really tall Catholics. But it put five big names on the floor and matched the future (Lakers) against the fading present (Rockets).

The future won because Shaquille O'Neal is 26 and Kobe Bryant is 20 and no one is better. The only thing that can mess Bryant up is hearing another 20,000 times that he has the tools to be the next Jordan.

The Rockets have an entire future wing of the Hall of Fame, but unfortunately, that future is very near. Charles Barkley, 35, who huffs and puffs alongside Hakeem Olajuwon and ex-Bull Scottie Pippen, can tell you what it's like to get old: "I don't think I can have sex three days in a row. Not good sex, anyway." And on that note, Happy Valentine's Day from the NBA.