Former NBA Star Carlos Boozer Was Prince’s Landlord—Really

Former NBA player Carlos Boozer appeared in an ESPN video to “tell” a story about the time when he rented out his house to Prince, according to AfroTech.

In the video, Boozer says when he signed a contract with the Utah Jazz in 2004, he bought an estate in the Bel Air. He then flew back to Utah to join the team. He started getting phone calls from his agent hat people were inquiring about renting the house from him.

Boozer wasn’t interested, an offer he couldn’t refuse made him rethink things.

His agent told him that someone wanted to rent out the residence for a year and would pay $95,000 a month. After hearing the shocking offer, he admitted that he asked if that amount was real. It was. He relented.

Boozer flew back to Los Angeles to complete the deal. When the renter pulled up, he was shocked to see that it was the musician Prince.

Several months later, Boozer suffered an injury and headed back to LA for rehab. “I go to the street where my house is at, and I pull up and I go to what I think is the property and I’m like, ‘Is this my house?’ I know I haven’t spent much time here, but this don’t look like my house.

“So I type in the passcode to the gate, and it opens up right away. As I’m driving up the long driveway to my house, it was this big purple rug that was going from the motor court area all the way up to the front door. And I’m like, ‘What the f**k is going on?’” There were other changes—including turning his weight room into a a nightclub—that upset Boozer since they were not part of the agreement, but he couldn’t do much about it.

After all, Boozer told ESPN, “nobody really wants to sue Prince.”

And he didn’t have to, because—

“Out of nowhere, I get a call at like, three in the morning and it’s P. And he goes, ‘Hey Booz, listen I’m so sorry I’ve been on tour, I’m in Asia. Don’t worry about anything. When the lease is over and I move out, the house will look like I was never there.”

And, according to Boozer, Prince kept his word.