But the Hall of Famer and TNT NBA analyst disputes some of the specifics of a suit filed against him by the Las Vegas hotel and casino.

The legal action, filed Tuesday in District Court in Clark County, Nev., says the casino granted the former 76ers star four separate credit instruments of $100,000 each Oct. 18 and 19 last year, and that it now wants not only that money, but also interest and damages covering attorney fees.

In a lengthy interview yesterday with "The Roundtable" on WJOX-FM in Birmingham, Ala., as part of a charity golf tournament in suburban Hoover, Barkley told hosts Ian Fitzsimmons and Lance Taylor that not paying back the debt was his "mistake," but that it emanated from the Super Bowl rather than from last October, as alleged by the casino.

He also said he was peeved about comments from Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who said prosecutors would file a criminal complaint if he did not pay back the debt. Roger told the Associated Press that if the case remains unresolved, as many as four felony theft or four felony bad check charges could be filed.

Barkley was equally upset with the casino.

"Guess I won't be going back there," he said.

He did not respond yesterday to a message left by the Daily News. Wynn attorney Kimmarie Sinatra also did not return a phone call left by the Daily News.

The civil complaint was initially reported by the Las Vegas Sun.

Barkley, who was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, has said in the past that he has had problems with gambling.

"I gamble," Barkley said yesterday during the golf tournament. "Do I gamble too much? More than likely, I do. This was just a mistake on my part for not knowing the dates involved."

But he insisted he is not in financial difficulty.

"I am great financially," he said. "I am fine financially. This was a mistake on my part . . . my mistake. But I've got to tell you something; I am so [bleeped] right now. I've just got to get over that, though, because it's still my fault.

"I'm just [bleeped] they're going to try to act like they're going to arrest me and using words like 'felony.' All they had to do was call me and say, 'Hey, man, you owe me this money and we need it.' But they never did."

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

Later, Barkley said, "Do you think if somebody called me and told me they were going to drop felony charges on me, I would have said, 'Yeah, go ahead and do it?' "

And: "It's not like I said I was going to skate on that much debt . . . I'm not going to run. It's my fault. I can't believe they would do that. Obviously, I'm going to pay them."

And: "Am I going to pay them? Yes. [But] this does not do anything to make me want to go write a check for 400 grand."

In February 2007, Barkley said he won "about $700,000" during a weekend of gambling in Las Vegas. In May 2006, he said he had lost about $10 million over the years. In an interview with ESPN at the time, he said, "My agent has really worked with me to try to get it where I can go and gamble and have fun. That's easier said than done. Do I have a gambling problem? Yeah, I do have a gambling problem. But I don't consider it a problem, because I can afford to gamble."

He said he never bet on basketball and only went to casinos.

"It's a stupid, bad habit," he said in February 2007. "I have a problem. But the problem is when you can't afford it. I can afford to gamble." *