Earlier today, the world was saddened by the news that pop legend Prince had passed away. A number of NBA players used Twitter to express their condolences.
One former player, Carlos Boozer, got to know Prince like few others did.
Back in 2011, Nick Friedell of ESPN wrote a story about the time that Boozer rented his Beverly Hills home out to Prince while he was away. Former Bulls player Jay Williams detailed what went down on the “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000.
Booz told me how he had this massive house … blue fountain waves kind of came down, streaming water that led to the front door and all this great stuff. And I remember him calling me, “Dude, you will never guess, I rode past my house like three times, I had no idea it was my house.”
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Boozer couldn't believe it; Prince had his home remodeled completely! He was livid, but in his own unique way, Prince made up for it.
Supposedly, Prince changed the front gate to the Prince sign, he changed the master bedroom to a hair salon, he changed the streaming blue waters that led to the front door to purple water, he knocked out walls, he changed the molding on top of the ceiling. Booz was livid. So pissed off, so angry … [Prince] put his Purple Rain stamp on it … Booz was like, “I was getting ready to go over there and beat this little man down.” And dude was just like “Here, Boozer, here is a little check for about a million, it'll take care of everything, get it back the way you want it.” And Booz was like, “This little man is cool as hell.”
Eventually, Boozer and Prince got to know each other better, and Carlos admired his approach to life.
Good dude, good tenant. [He] took care of the house his way. And then fixed it back the way I needed it to be. Very good dude. … He knows how to live. He lives a good life. I'll put it that way. … He put it back the way it was before he moved out. He did some very specific things that were built for him and his lifestyle, which is very different from mine. Needless to say, I sold the house, made a great profit, and moved to Miami.
This story captures part of Prince's incredible and, well, different spirit. He lived his life on his terms, but he was always respectful to everybody he came into contact with.
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