Red, hot, and blue: Marvin Gaye's soulful anthem at the '83 all-star game marked the rise of a new NBA but proved to be his last hurrah. (Sports).

WHEN MARVIN GAYE walked onto the Forum floor to sing the national anthem at the 1983 NBA all-star game, he was in sorry shape. Mirrored aviator sunglasses hid eyes that were red from daily drug use. A lifelong sufferer of stage fright, the former Motown star had tried in vain to get out of the gig. That February afternoon he had arrived so late that Lakers officials were about to replace him with an usher.

But for three minutes, Gaye pulled himself together. As a grooving backbeat echoed around him, he powered and simmered his way through the patriotic warhorse, infusing it with equal parts soul, funk, and gospel. By the time he was through, the capacity crowd of 17,505 was clapping in rhythm and 24 basketball superstars were swaying in place along the foul lines. Gaye's performance was so galvanizing that those who saw it--in person or on television--call it one of the most memorable moments they've experienced.

Twenty years later the rendition has taken on new meaning: It represents a bridge between a straitlaced league struggling to find its identity and a global entertainment powerhouse that embraces hip-hop culture. In a sense, Gaye's anthem foreshadowed the evolution of pro basketball, from Jerry West's dribbling silhouette within the NBA logo to Michael Jordan's soaring Nike "Airman."

The anthem also proved to be the last hurrah for a singer whose genius was surpassed only by his personal torment. A year after he sang at the Forum, Gaye would be dead, shot by his own father.

IN THE LATE 1970S, THE NATIONAL Basketball Association was in the doldrums. There was talk that several teams might fold. CBS aired the championship series on tape delay "Back then the NBA had a negative connotation surrounding it," says broadcaster Dick Stockton. "The perception was that drugs were a problem and that the league was `too black.'"

Nonetheless, Jerry Buss wanted in. A former chemist who had made a fortune investing in real estate, he jumped at the chance to buy the Lakers (along with the Forum and hockeys Kings) in 1979 when Jack Kent Cooke decided to dump his West Coast properties for $67.5 million after a nasty divorce.

Buss, who had earned his doctorate at USC, was determined to inject some college-style hoopla into the pros. He hired the NBA's first cheerleading squad (the …