Image via Complex Original
The recent death of legendary musician Prince affected people from every walk of life, not just those who loved his music. This includes figures in the basketball world, thanks to his ubiquitous and unremitting love of the game. His two hometown (and favorite) basketball teams, the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, even released statements on his passing last week to honor their biggest fan from the music world:
“Today we lost a local icon, legend and musical innovator. Prince represented Minnesota with grace, passion and a hunger for helping others. Over the years be became a huge Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx fan, attending numerous games and even treating our Lynx players and staff with a private concert at Paisley Park after winning the WNBA Championship this past fall. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy, especially the Prince family."
When Dave Chappelle’s seminal comedy sketch about the Purple One hooping it up first aired in 2004, many music lovers got their first taste of the self-proclaimed Messiah’s basketball talents. He wasn't just a musician who happened to enjoy the sport. Prince had game. And, apparently, lots of it to spare.
Despite his androgynous aesthetic, tiny frame, and musical focus, Prince was still a dude who thrived on ballin’ with his friends, draining jumpers for therapeutic purposes, and talking shit after breaking someone’s ankles.
To honor the late musician’s basketball side, we compiled a list of Prince’s greatest roundball-related moments—high heels, blouses, and all.
Shouts Out Steph Curry While Performing at Oracle Arena
In early March, Prince had a tour date at Oracle Arena in Oakland. When he appeared at the Thunder-Warriors game the night before, he was immediately spotted and given a standing ovation. This goes to show his omnipotence because wherever he showed up in public, people would either stand up or immediately applaud him like he was a gospel song performed at The Apollo’s Amateur Night.
On the following evening at Oracle, The Artist gave a brief definition of what greatness means when he co-signed Steph Curry to the crowd during a song at his show. Giving props to the Bay Area hero made the crowd go bananas.
Played Junior Varsity and Coached Basketball by the Ninth Grade
Prince was a music prodigy by the time he was in the seventh grade. But he was also a bonafide baller by that same age. He excelled as a point guard for the Bryant Junior High basketball team in his native Minneapolis. Two years later, he was playing on the junior varsity team at Central High and was the assistant coach of his church’s grammar school team.
According to his high school basketball coach Richard Robinson, Prince could really get busy on the hardwood and blacktop. “Prince was an excellent player,” said Robinson. “Excellent ball handler, good shooter, but too short to crack the starting lineup.”
And, yes, Prince was the “put me in coach” guy. “I knew he wanted to be starting and felt he should be starting. He was unhappy and expressed that many, many times,” Robinson affirmed.
Robinson even rehashed his story about Prince playing in high school to TMZ when he told them that Prince “was quite a good basketball player, but I gave him less playing time because he always threw the ball away. The more turnovers he got, the less time he played.” Being undersized, having a less than stellar assist-to-turnover ratio didn't help his cause for more minutes.
The Defensive Pest
Revered music journalist and author of Prince’s biography I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became An Icon, Touré described how Prince was always up for a game when he asked him to play via email in 1998. According to Touré, when he arrived to interview Prince at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minn., Prince answered the request to play a game with him and his entourage in their backyard hoop.
Touré mentions in this clip that Prince was proud of being a 5’2’’ defensive pest. Although he was even shorter than Muggsy Bogues, Prince was not to be slept on and had a basketball IQ that was off the charts. He wasn’t a mechanical player who seemed unsure of himself when handling the rock, The Purple One moved with fluidity and was very fundamentally sound as a teammate. Touré hilariously had no idea how he should refer to him when he dished a no-look pass to The Artist, who at that time was formerly known as Prince. The musician joked, “He didn't know what to call me.”
Turning Carlos Boozer's House Purple
This one doesn't necessarily pertain to Prince playing the game, but rather paying an NBA player a big check after he doused the player’s entire home in his purple aura. In 2015, former Lakers forward/center Carlos Boozer went on a podcast to discuss the time he rented out his house to Prince for a few days while he was in Los Angeles doing concerts in the area. When Boozer returned to his home, he noticed how everything in the home was wall-to-wall purple, adorned with ornaments that Prince handpicked himself.
Four-Hour Party for the WNBA Champs
Not many know that the native Minnesotan cheerfully went crazy for his state’s WNBA team, the Lynx, after they won the 2015 WNBA championship. Prince congratulated the Lynx with the above Tweet.
Immediately after winning the WNBA title, he invited the team to his Paisley Park residence that same night and threw an impromptu raucous party that lasted nearly four hours. Why not celebrate a title with the Lynx ladies by throwing a “housequake” of a party for free on his compound? This was his team, and he was more than happy to serve as their “Party Man.”
Attempting to Buy the Minnesota Timberwolves
Before we knew about his exceptional basketball talent, it wasn’t uncommon to see Prince in the stands as a Minnesota Timberwolves loyalist when the franchise began their operations in 1988. Just six years after the team played their initial season, Prince was in a private equity partnership with Magic Johnson, Janet Jackson, and “Minneapolis sound” architects Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to buy the Timberwolves. Imagine Prince, the NBA owner, performing the halftime show to end all halftime shows.
Although the proposed acquisition fell through, Prince remained the team’s Jack Nicholson as one of the few frequent celebrity sightings at their home games. Back in the ‘90s, the coolest thing to see when the Timberwolves’ game highlights aired were Kevin Garnett with a dope alley-oop finish, and Prince with jazzy fedora trying to blend in with the crowd.
Watching NBA Games While Performing Live
A 1999 Notorious Magazine interview with Prince revealed that he once performed in Montreal and requested to have TVs on each side of the stage to watch a Bulls playoff game. Prince also had his stylist frequently hold up giant cards to tell him the score of the game while he played. Many from his inner circle have noted that Prince was a claustrophobic who was deeply stricken by cases of stage fright. But being on stage with the game on dually quelled his fears as well as made him not have to rely on SportsCenter highlights after his show.
Nearby Hoop While Rehearsing On Tour
Prince’s entourage and staff members have addressed that it wasn't uncommon for Prince to have a makeshift hoop and backboard mounted on a wall near his recording studios or rehearsal sites while on tour.
In I Would Die 4 U, fabled former bandmate of The Revolution Wendy Melvoin revealed to the Minnesota Star Tribune that Prince would take rehearsal breaks to work on his J. Wendy said that he actually did play in heels for years. She also quipped that he was quicker than her in heels even when she rocked sneakers.