Of the stories that GQ compiled about Prince (head over here to read them all), come a few incredible ones about him and the game of basketball. It was never in question how much the legend loved the game (read more about that here) or the legends surrounding it, but this is a great story from one night when Prince invited people over his house after a night at the club, didn’t change out of his club clothes, and still won by a lot. And, as the magazine points out, it confirms the long-running legend that started with Charlie Murphy on The Chappelle Show over a decade ago.
It was the craziest thing ever,” Micki Free told GQ. “We were in a club again—Eddie Murphy was there, Eddie’s crew, Prince and I—we were all just hanging. And we got to where we were gonna go to Prince’s house, which I’d been to many times before in that day and age. Sometimes I’d go up to the house, and Prince would go in his bedroom and he wouldn’t come out—he was pretty funny that way. But this particular time we all go up there—Eddie, Charlie, Uncle Ray—and there’s a bunch of girls as usual, and Prince goes, “Let’s play basketball.” And Eddie and those guys go, “Sure, let’s play.” Eddie and the other guys changed into basketball clothes—I think they got them out of their car. Prince didn’t change, and neither did I. Prince was wearing exactly what he had on from the club, and trust me, if we came from the club, he was looking like new money. He always did. Perfection: matching boots, matching outfit, matching handkerchief, hat, cane, whatever—it was always on point. And as far as I can remember, he was wearing his heels.
So what happened? Well, according to what people there told GQ, Prince’s team won and he made his guests pancakes after the game.
Here’s Murphy on The Chappelle Show in 2004 talking about the game (warning, there’s some NSFW language in here):
Charlie Murphy - Prince from Neo Suki on Vimeo.
Shortly after Prince’s death, Samuel L. Jackson also came forward with proof that that Murphy story was true.
My favorite basketball story, about Prince for the record, is the time he threw the Minnesota Lynx an insane after-party after they won the 2015 WNBA title. You can read more about that here.
