‘GAME, BLOUSES’ The real story behind the famous Chappelle skit about Prince’s late-night hoops chal

[JonLP24]

(Snip)
“Are you the Micki Free?” the clerk asked. “The guy who played basketball with Prince?”

Free laughed as he recalled the encounter. “Happens all the time when I check in,” Free said. “Been that way the last 12 years.”

It started on Feb. 18, 2004, when comedian Dave Chappelle’s Comedy Central series aired a skit called Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories. In the segment, Murphy — comedian Eddie Murphy’s older brother — describes a late-night basketball outing that portrayed Prince as a shot-calling, trash-talking baller.

It was a made-up comedic masterpiece, right? A fictionalized account of a scrawny, 5-foot-2 musician as dominant athlete, right?

“Everything in that skit is true,” said Free, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter who was a member of Shalamar in the 1980s. “I played in that game. And Prince was Steph Curry all m—–f—— night!”
(Snip)

He played two years at Central High School in Minneapolis, and his high school coach, Albert Nuness, says he was extremely talented.
“His game was quickness. He wasn’t the best shooter, but he could split the seams and pass the ball and because of his size people loved to watch him,” Nuness said. “The player he reminds me of — Spud Webb. He didn’t have the leaping ability like Spud, but his quickness was very similar.”
One of the reasons Prince quit basketball was because he was unhappy with his playing time.

“At the time, that team was considered the greatest ever assembled in Minnesota,” Nuness said. “So it would have been hard for him to get time with us, and lot had to do with his size. But had he gone to any other school in the city — West or South — he would have played. A lot. No question.”

During 1975-76, Prince’s senior year, Central finished 25-1 and had four players receive Division I scholarships, including Prince’s half-brother, Duane Nelson, who played for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.http://theundefeated.com/features/princes-basketball-skills-and-the-famous-chappelle-skit/

[ProfessorGAC]

1. I Played In A Pick Up Game With Him in 1980 or 1981

We had friends that signed a record deal with some company out of St. Paul. So, they moved up there. Another guitar playing friend and i went up there a few times to visit them.

One of those times, the guys in the band said they were going to play basketball at a junior high gym. (One of the guys had a brother who was a math teacher, or something.)

I played one game on the opposite team and one game on the same team with Prince. This would have been just before he broke really big. As i recall, For You and Controversy were out and were decently big records, but i'm not sure 1999 was out yet.

He was cat quick. A little easy to fool on defense though.

By the way: the keyboard player in the band our friends had was Yanni. The drummer from our town still plays with him.