Sure, the TNT analyst has said some unflattering things about the city and the Cavaliers in recent months, but there's also something he thinks the people in his favorite "Mistake by the Lake" need to know.

"I'm just joking around," Barkley said Wednesday.

That time back in March, when Barkley called Cleveland a "dreary-ass city" and reiterated the old unflattering nickname for the town along the Lake Erie shore? It was all in good fun and not because of any lingering bad feelings.

"The fans should have a sense of humor," said Barkley, who was loudly booed when he was shown on the jumbo screen at The Q while setting up for TNT's halftime show. "They ought to know it's just TV and we're just joking around. I don't have a favorite team or a favorite player. I really don't care either way."

And the part where he picked Orlando to top the Cavaliers in these Eastern Conference finals? Well, that part was his honest opinion, but he adds an asterisk.

"The LeBron factor is one thing you can't account for on paper," Barkley said. "But on paper, I like Orlando."

Just to clear up any lingering doubts, Barkley wants to make sure everyone knows he holds no grudges from a 1997 civil trial in Cleveland when a New York man accused Barkley of assaulting him in a Flats club called the Basement.

Jeb Tyler of Spencerport, N.Y., asked for more than $500,000 for what he said were injuries suffered during a fight with Barkley when the then-Phoenix Suns player was in town for a Dream Team exhibition game before the 1996 Olympics. By the end of the trial, Tyler was willing to settle for $12,000, but Barkley refused to agree to terms.

The trial lasted a week, and the jury deliberated five hours before reaching a not guilty verdict.

"The trial was quite a circus, really," said Lawrence Peskin, who is now with Anderson Law offices but defended Barkley when he was with Ulmer and Berne. "He had a bad experience here, but I don't think that had anything to do with comments he's made. I don't believe that experience ever colored his view of Cleveland. He was delightful."

Barkley entertained the court with his typical wit when he was questioned, and before he left said: "I want to thank the people of Cleveland. You have a terrific city."

An alternate juror on that trial wonders, though, if that incident 12 years ago might have snaked its way into Barkley's subconscious.

"I would think that having to be dragged back to Cleveland for something as ridiculous as that, Cleveland didn't present itself too well," said George Kappos of Solon.

"I think you might have hit something on the head there. To be honest with you, everyone in the world loves LeBron, and you really can't put a reason or a rhyme to why Charles Barkley would hate Cleveland. I've never understood it."

Unless the whole thing is just an act, as Barkley contends.

"I'm just joking around," Barkley said. "It's a nice city. I mean, would I want to live here? I don't know . . ."

Oh, Charles. Just when we were starting to like you.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jvalade@plaind.com, 216-999-4654