EDITORIAL : SHOWTIME II; SUPERFREAK DENNIS RODMAN'S PENDING ARRIVAL IN L.A. COMPLETES THE TRANSFORMATION OF BASKETBALL FROM A GAME TO MERELY ENTERTAINMENT.

THANK you, Jerry Buss.

The days of Magic and Kareem and Jamaal and Wilt and Elgin and A.C. are over.

The days when those gold-jerseyed Lakers pounded the boards live long in the memories of sports fans. They were champions who played with pride and lived with pride. They made a whole town proud and built a tradition that glorified the game of basketball.

Of course, that was when pro basketball was a game. Showtime on the court. Not off it. They were colorful, not outrageous. They made their mistakes as human beings do but they didn't go out of their way to offend nearly everyone or seek contentment as a sideshow in a freak circus.

Maybe it's only just that superfreak Dennis Rodman has come to the entertainment capital of the world to write a final chapter in his book on how he turned a noble sport into nothing but an entertainment on the level of professional wrestling.

Rodman brings with him tons of baggage. He brings wedding dresses, Day-Glo hats, oddly placed piercings and a sex life that is all too public.

He brings unwanted attention to the Great Western Forum - the house that Wilt built not only grabbing rebounds but also stuffing baskets with the roundball, not stuffing his opponents' faces with sharpened elbows.

The game has changed.

Hard work? Who needs it? Shaquille O'Neal can't shoot free throws after practice because he's got to shoot a music video. So the Lakers go out and hire a walk-on weirdo to distract the fans from noticing the ball clanging off the rim.

What it takes today to sell tickets is an exciting team contending for a championship - or a circus.

Clearly, Buss believes he will achieve both goals with Rodman. If he's wrong, he will have made a fool of himself and tarnished the image of the beloved Lakers. If he's right, he will have become the P.T. Barnum of the National Basketball Association.

There's a sucker born every minute, and maybe there are enough in L.A. who will buy tickets to watch Rodman kick sideline cameramen, rip the jersey from his tattooed body, get thrown out of games and create a spectacle of himself all over town.

Maybe his tough rebounding skills will help the Lakers break out of the title-hungry slump they have been in for a dozen years.

But at what cost?

His signing would only reinforce L.A.'s wacky image, just when the town was shedding that stigma and beginning to act like a civilized community.

Civilization may not tumble by the end of the season. And the Lakers may wind up winning it all.

The game of basketball has lost its last shred of innocence in Los Angeles. And it's too bad.

Welcome to Showtime II, where the Lakers are as weird as they wanna be.