Mid-Summer Classic Lacks Stars and Magic : Basketball: Tonight’s charity event loses luster because of NBA lockout.

Here’s what Magic Johnson’s Mid-Summer Night’s Classic looks like in a lockout summer:

--No Forum.

The game will be played instead at The Pond of Anaheim tonight at 7:30.

--Not as many stars.

With the NBA teams’ insurance no longer in effect, with the promoters able to obtain only a basic policy that wouldn’t cover a $30-million contract, big names such as Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp and Eddie Jones dropped out.

--No Magic.

Johnson, a Laker minority owner, is barred from having any contact with players. Not only has his name been excised from the logo and the ads, he won’t come to the game. He planned to attend Saturday night’s dinner at the Century Plaza--but players, who are normally guests of honor, are barred this year.

“He understands,” said Johnson’s agent, Lon Rosen. “There is a lockout and if you have a lockout, you have to go all the way.”

Scheduled to play in the game are Ed O’Bannon, Nick Van Exel, Cedric Ceballos, Mitch Richmond, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Glenn Robinson, Pooh Richardson, Lamond Murray, Harold Miner, Tracy Murray, Chris Mills, Olden Polynice, Spud Webb, Trevor Wilson and Darrick Martin.

Promoters say the event usually raises about $1 million for the American Negro College Fund, but this year will probably net about $400,000 to $500,000.

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Johnson was not among the 10 players named to the 1996 U.S. Olympic team. Two slots remain open but two point guards--John Stockton and Anfernee Hardaway--are already on, suggesting that Magic will not make it.

Johnson realizes that his decision not to return to the Lakers made him an Olympic longshot, Rosen said.

NBA officials have been noncommittal since Johnson announced he’d like to play in Atlanta, but privately they’ve been unenthusiastic. Selection is a marketing opportunity, and the league is more interested in hyping its attractive young players than its minority owners.

Dream Team II players such as Kemp, Alonzo Mourning, Derrick Coleman and Larry Johnson, were passed over partly because of their antics in the 1994 World Cup at Toronto. Although they’re still young, they’re not as attractive as they used to be.