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May 20, 2008

Charles Barkley: No more gambling for me

By Larry DiTore
Bloomberg

Hall of Fame basketball player Charles Barkley vowed to stop gambling and said he's paid the $400,000 he owed Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Barkley, a TNT studio analyst, made the comments last night in an interview on the network before Game 7 of the National Basketball Association Western Conference semifinal between San Antonio and New Orleans.

"Just because I can afford to lose money don't mean I should do it," Barkley said. "I'm not going to gamble anymore."

Wynn Resorts sued Barkley, 45, in Nevada state court on May 14 after he failed to repay credit that the casino company had extended to him in October.

The company didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Barkley's statement.

The former basketball player said he was given a certain amount of time to pay off the debt and that he let it lapse. He said he doesn't have financial problems and that he had the money to pay the debt.

Barkley initially said he was going to stop gambling. Later in the interview, he said that the break may be temporary.

"For right now, the next year or two, I'm not going to gamble," Barkley said.

Barkley said in a May 2006 interview with ESPN that he's lost about $10 million gambling.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:33 AM | Permalink

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