By Ron Kantowski

Mon, May 26, 2008 (2 a.m.)

I see where TV ratings for the NBA playoffs are up over last year and the Cavaliers and Celtics even played a pretty exciting game last week. So it appears as if The Association, which is what those hip NBA announcers call it, doesn’t miss Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and that Jordan guy as much as old coots like me claim it does.

Actually, I must confess that the last NBA game I watched from start to finish was during my senior year in high school. It was the Warriors against the politically incorrect Bullets. A guy named Clifford Ray was the Warriors’ starting center and Rick Barry had way less hair than he did when I met him at Mandalay Bay last summer. And I think Phil Chenier had a pretty good game for Washington.

In other words, I haven’t followed The Association since “Along Comes Mary,” and I really don’t claim to know that much more about the NBA, other than I believe its players are the best athletes in the world, even if I don’t find their style of play very interesting.

But a colleague who follows pro basketball more closely than I raised a question the other day: The next time Charles Barkley criticizes some guy on TV for the way he plays defense, will it be because the guy is actually waving a matador’s cape or will it be because he has money riding on the team he plays for?

Sir Charles, who wrote a $400,000 check last week to Steve Wynn to satisfy a gambling debt, said he doesn’t bet on basketball, that he bets only in casinos. I think what he means is that he prefers table games, like blackjack. But he said it was a losing Super Bowl bet that got him sideways with Wynn, so who really knows for sure?

At the end of the day, whatever Charles Barkley says about a basketball game will have zero effect on it. This isn’t referee Tim Donaghy calling games he wagered on. It’s just that every time I’m watching college football and Brent Musburger mentions that “Phil Steele likes the Boilermakers” or “the experts think these two teams are going to combine for 69 points,” my first reaction is that he has bet on Purdue or on the over/under. Then, for a few plays, I don’t really care that I’m looking, live, at the Big Kat, A-n-n-n-n-dy Katzenmoyer, making another tackle, because I’m preoccupied figuring out where Brent’s money is.

(There’s actually a Brent Musburger drinking game where players have to down a shot every time he mentions the point spread, says “it’s a foot race,” or refers to “our ol’ buddy, Jack Arute.”)

Of course, if Barkley ever did mention the point spread and who he likes, I’d be awfully tempted to take what’s in the cigar box under my bed and let it ride on the other side.

THIS WEEK’S BEST BET

Cincinnati Cyclones at Las Vegas Wranglers, ECHL Kelly Cup playoff finals,

7:05 p.m. Thursday and Friday,

Orleans Arena

You can’t beat playoff hockey — even if it’s almost June.

TICKETS: $15-$39.25

ON THE WEB: www.lasvegaswranglers.com

ALSO WORTH A LOOK

Fresno Grizzlies at Las Vegas 51s,

12:05 p.m. Monday,

Cashman Field

If you don’t have plans to cook out on Memorial Day, why not let the 51s do it for you?

TICKETS: $11-$13

ON THE WEB: lasvegas.51s.milb.com