PUBLISHED 04/27/2007
So when did it get formalized?
Just a few days before.
And there was a charity component?
TNT gave $25,000, NBA gave $50,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas. They picked the charity, decided to put it on TV, and the rest was history. It was like a ratings bonanza. I can't explain it.
Did you want to do it?
Absolutely, for charity. My goodness.
I wish it could have been a mile on the track.
Well, as it turns out, I very quickly found out that I am not a sprinter. We went up and down the court three times, a total of probably 25, 30 seconds, and I'm saying, "All right, I'm ready." They're saying, "Dick, it's over, you lost. "
You've got to challenge him to a rematch.
That's what we're shooting for next year, Barkley-Bavetta II, in New Orleans, around the inside of the Superdome or something. I had nothing to do with the ground rules. Someone sets this up. In retrospect, he collapses at the finish. He's tripping trying to run backwards, then falls over the finish line and falls on his back, and they try to pick him up to have him say something and he cannot talk. If we had gone one more length of the court, he's toast. And it happened very, very quickly. I'm looking around; it's almost like the old Peggy Lee song, "Is that all there is?"
So do you have a good relationship with Charles?
Tremendous. We have always gotten along from his playing days. In the last couple years, he's always had a comment from the studio. "If he doesn't slow down, he's going to have a heart attack."
He was a lot faster than I thought. He's a big guy, big strides. The shorter the distance, the more beneficial it was to him. Plus, through his basketball career, that's all he did was wind sprints. Get me on a track; I'd be more familiar. That's not an excuse. The good of it all was for the charity.
