VIEWING SPORTS : NBA ALL-STAR GAME: IN THE LAND OF THE GIANTS

On Sunday, there’ll be a gathering of giants in Indianapolis. The occasion will be the National Basketball Assn.’s 35th annual All-Star Game. CBS has scheduled a three-hour period for the contest, starting at 10:30 a.m. over Channels 2 and 8.

The midseason classic in the NBA comes at an opportune time. Pro basketball fans, in particular, will agree there’s really nothing else going on. So they can focus all their attention on the action generated by the likes of such giants of the game as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ralph Sampson, Akeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone and Robert Parish.

And there’s also Magic Johnson, who was No. 1 in voting by the nation’s fans, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Adrian Dantley, George Gervin, Norm Nixon, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas adding to the All-Star traffic jam.

The East has enjoyed a five-game win streak, and contrary to that old line of “it’s just fun to play in this game,” there are guys like Magic and Bird who don’t like to lose at anything.

The half time exercise will be something of a treat. The old timers, Tom Heinsohn, Bob Cousy, et al, will lumber up and down the court in a “game” of sorts. And then you’ll see highlights of the slam-dunk contest that was held today during a practice session.

Dick Stockton, Tom Heinsohn and Pat O’Brien report.

Bob Uecker, that funny former major league catcher and celebrated light beer salesman, is finally going to move in on the territory of another funny catcher, Joe Garagiola.

Garagiola had pretty much free rein working the talk show circuit and doing those segments highlighting crazy things happening on the baseball fields. But now Uecker, who is also the Milwaukee Brewers announcer, will star in the first of four hour specials, “Bob Uecker’s Wacky World of Sports.” It’s a syndicated package premiering on Channel 4 today at 3:30 p.m.

Uecker will team with 11-year-old Chris Johnston to present some of the weird and many times hilarious things that have been captured on film at various kinds of sporting events.

“Bob plays a sort of Rodney Dangerfield-type guy, you know, who gets no respect,” explained the producer-director Rasha Drachkovitch. “We start out with him expecting maybe Sinatra, Hope or Raquel Welch to join him on this show. Then we intercut to young Chris on his way to meet Bob and wondering who’s this guy Uecker?”

Drachkovitch said the series is “basically kid oriented,” with Johnston playing a straight man for Uecker’s comments. The show will be about two-thirds devoted to clips, with Uecker and Johnston involved in some of the funny action.

“We didn’t get any NFL footage--NFL Films was asking too much for it--but we got plenty from other sources,” Drachkovitch said. “And we will film a lot of our own things involving Bob at the Brewers training camp in Phoenix.

“Some of the Angels and Dodgers are seen in wacky things like trying to chew a whole pack of tobacco. We got Tommy Lasorda going to the mound to chew out his pitcher. It took us half a day to delete the expletives.”

ROUNDUP: Today, Basketball, SMU vs. North Carolina State, 10 a.m. (4) (36) (39) . . . Basketball, St. John’s vs. Villanova, 11 a.m. (2) (8) . . . Basketball, UCLA vs. Washington, noon (4) (36) (39) . . . Sports Saturday, 1 p.m. (2) (8) . . . Basketball, Stanford vs. Arizona State, 2 p.m. (5) (51) . . . Golf, Hawaiian Open, 2 p.m. (4) (36) (39) . . . Pro Bowlers Tour, BPAA U.S. Open, 3 p.m. tape-delayed (7) (3) (10) (42) . . . Wide World of Sports, 4:30 p.m. (7) (3) (42).

SUNDAY: Auto Racing, Busch Clash 50-mile sprint, 10 a.m. (2) (8) . . . Basketball, North Carolina vs. LSU, 10 a.m. (4) (36) (39) . . . Sportscope, 12:30 p.m. (4) . . . Sports Sunday, Indoor Track Meet, 1:30 p.m. (2) (8) . . . Golf, Hawaiian Open finals, 1:30 p.m. (4) (39) . . . Amateur Boxing, U.S. vs. Korea, 1:30 p.m. (7) (3) (10) (42) . . . Wide World of Sports, 3 p.m. (7) (3) (10) (42).