LOS ANGELES -- "Laker fans, the wait is over."
So said Ice Cube as he concluded the opening invocation that greeted fans on the video screen as they filed in from the buzzy concourse into the bowl at Staples Center. Among the promises offered to those in attendance were "the dawn of a new kingdom" and the restoration of Showtime. The monarch in question, naturally, is LeBron Raymone James, Sr. And with his arrival in Los Angeles, basketball's most prominent star is now the face of the NBA's premier franchise.
For about two hours on Saturday, the electric current pulsating through the arena during James' regular-season premiere in a Lakers uniform appeared to be the NBA at the height of its cultural power.