HELP WANTED: Looking for replacements for the great players, teams and rivalries of the past. Please respond to the NBA as soon as possible.

Until that void can be filled, the NBA will continue to be stuck in the downward cycle that started with the retirements of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Larry, Magic and Michael were superstars that had charisma and personality. They captured every NBA Most Valuable Player award from 1984 to 1992. They are arguably the best players at their respective positions (forward, point guard and shooting guard) to ever play basketball.

But they did more than score the key baskets and make the spectacular passes. They also made their teammates better players and their teams champions.

The NBA of today lacks these types of players.

Today's players are talented, but none of them can take over a game the way the Great Three could. Jordan could post up his defender, hit a three, penetrate, get to the foul line or set a teammate up for an easy basket. Bird and Magic could do the same. And they wanted to -- especially in a close game.

But now, nobody in the NBA is at that level. Anfernee Hardaway has the ability to take over a game by himself and is the one person in the league versatile enough to do so. But he has to develop the same attitude that Larry, Magic and Michael held.

Those players made their teams champions.

Larry's Celtics won three NBA titles ('81, '84, '86), Magic led the Lakers to five crowns ('80, '82, '85, '87, '88) and Michael was the reason the Bulls captured three consecutive titles ('91-'93).

The NBA finals used to be a time for these superstars to shine and build their reputations.

The NBA finals also gave the fans a chance to watch basketball at its greatest level. Last season's final series was not one of of those opportunities.

The New York Knicks and Houston Rockets played a memorable series -- the most boring in recent NBA history. How many people can even name the starters on the Rockets' championship team?

Hakeem Olajuwon (he was one of them) and Patrick Ewing provided the only entertainment for an otherwise dull series, but they lacked the qualities that made Larry, Magic and Michael -- and the teams they played for -- so special.

The Orlando Magic has the players needed to develop into a championship team, but it is young.

The Magic lost in the first round of last season's playoffs, but it does have a foundation similar to the championship Laker teams of the '80s. They have a dominating center in Shaq, a multi-dimensional point guard in Hardaway and a talented supporting cast.

But, ironically, they lack the magic -- the attitude that made the Lakers champions. If Orlando develops a similar mentality, it could build the next dynasty.

Those championship teams of the past also developed intense rivalries that made the NBA so entertaining. Rivalries that are now missing.

Either Bird's Celtics or Magic's Lakers played in the NBA finals every year from 1980-1989, and three of those times ('84, '85, '87) they faced each other.

But there were other memorable rivalries.

The early 1980s showcased Boston vs. Philadelphia and Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia. The late 1980s featured Chicago vs. Detroit and Boston vs. Detroit.

All of those teams had dominant players.

Today, the best showdowns in the NBA are either between Washington's Chris Webber and his former coach, Don Nelson, or between Chicago's Scottie Pippen and Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause.

Orlando and Charlotte have the potential to develop into a classic rivalry, but either Alonzo Mourning or Larry Johnson always seems to be hurt when the two teams meet.

And with more expansion slated, the league's talent pool will be spread even thinner. The possibility of great rivalries soon developing is slim.

But the NBA is not dead. The league was in a downward spin in the late 1970s when Bird and Magic saved the day. Jordan added to its greatness in 1984.

The air is slowly leaking out of the NBA's basketball, but a special player or two will come along and inflate it -- maybe not to the level Larry, Magic and Michael did, but close to it.

And soon, I hope.