Friday, May 16, 2008

Charles Barkley acknowledged he owes a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino and promised yesterday to repay it after a prosecutor said the retired NBA star faced criminal charges.

"I'm not broke, and I'm going to take care of it," Barkley said in an interview at a pro-am golf tournament in Hoover, Ala.

Barkley was responding to comments by Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who said prosecutors would file a criminal complaint if he did not pay the debt cited by the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

"He'll have an opportunity like anybody else to make restitution to the hotel," Roger said.

The casino alleged in a civil complaint filed Wednesday in a Nevada state court and first reported by the Las Vegas Sun that Barkley failed to repay four $100,000 casino markers, or loans, received last Oct. 18 and 19.

"To date, and despite repeated demands, Barkley has refused to repay the $400,000," the complaint said.

In a radio interview with sports station WJOX in Birmingham, Ala., Barkley repeatedly blamed himself for letting the debt lapse.

He told radio interviewers and a reporter at the golf tournament that the debt stemmed from a wager on the 2008 Super Bowl. He did not explain why Wynn alleged the loans were made in October.

"I've been gambling 20 years. I've never had this happen before," the 45-year-old Barkley told WJOX. "It's my fault I let the time lapse. I screwed up."

· GIBSON OUT: Cavaliers G Daniel Gibson will miss Game 6 of Cleveland's playoff against the Celtics tonight after separating his left shoulder during the second half Wednesday.

Gibson, one of the Cavaliers' best perimeter shooters, left early in the fourth quarter following a collision and did not return. The team estimated he would miss one to two weeks. The Cavaliers trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

· BILLUPS IS READY: All-star PG Chauncey Billups has practiced with the Pistons and is expected to be ready to play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Detroit Coach Flip Saunders said Billups looked good enough in practice yesterday that he could have played if there were a game. Billups missed the last two games against the Magic in the second round with a strained right hamstring.

The Pistons will open the conference finals Sunday if the Celtics eliminate the Cavaliers tonight. If the Cavaliers extend the series to Game 7, the conference finals are expected to begin Tuesday night.

· VISA PROBLEMS: Jazz F Andrei Kirilenko missed practice because of a problem with his visa, a day before Utah hosts the Lakers in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.

A Jazz spokesman said the Russian was absent because he was resolving a visa issue.

-- From News Services