Editor's note: This story was posted on March 29, 2011
DEERFIELD, Ill. -- When the Chicago Bulls take the court at Target Center in Minneapolis on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see if Timberwolves fan and music superstar Prince is in the crowd to watch his former landlord.
Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer once rented his Beverly Hills house to Prince, and Boozer's former Duke teammate Jay Williams described Tuesday some of Prince's redecorating.
"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," Williams said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "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.'
"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 ... He 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.'"
Boozer wouldn't discuss the details Tuesday, but he did express his admiration of Prince.
"Good dude, good tenant," Boozer said. "[He] took care of the house his way. And then fixed it back the way I needed it to be. Very good dude."
Boozer said there was an agreement not to elaborate.
"We had a disclosure thing. We agreed not to speak about the details of our deal, so I don't want to cross that bridge," Boozer said, before adding with a smile, "He knows how to live. He lives a good life. I'll put it that way."
Boozer, who said he met with Prince before he moved into Boozer's place, had no problems with the adjustments.
"He put it back the way it was before he moved out," Boozer said. "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."
Boozer admitted that he is a fan of some of Prince's work, but he may not be in attendance for a concert any time soon.
"I've listened to some of his music," Boozer said. "Not a big fan of some of his concerts ... [That's] not really my thing, but some of his music his pretty hot, though."
Boozer did get his parents a couple tickets to see Prince perform at Madison Square Garden around Christmas. He said he still keeps in touch with his former tenant every now and then.
"I did see him a couple times in New York, we had a good time at a lounge," Boozer said. "A great dude, very humble dude. Very successful. Awesome spirit. He has a great spirit about him.
"I don't know how he is financially, I'm sure he's made a ton of money, but he does a lot of stuff for charity. Like he'll sing at your birthday party if you want him to just because he's that kind of guy. I didn't know that about him until I got a chance to interact with him. Great dude."
Nick Friedell covers the Bulls for ESPNChicago.com and ESPN 1000.