Prince’s Friend Confirms That The Ridiculous “Chappelle’s Show” Basketball Skit Is Real

El Taco9 years ago

Charlie Murphy’s account of the night he balled against Prince will forever be one of the best Chappelle’s Show skits.

We all knew Prince was a great singer, a weird dude, and possibly good at basketball too. But how much of that “Game, Blouses” story was actually true? According to Prince’s friend Micki Free, absolutely all of it.

From The Undefeated:

‘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!’
…
Memories of their time together returned on Feb. 18, 2004, with an out-of-the-blue email from Charlie Murphy.

‘I got you, m—–f—–,’ the email read.

Free was still trying to figure out what he meant when he got a hysterical call from his mother.

‘‘They’re talking about you on TV, son,’’ he recalled her saying. ‘‘They’re calling you a girl.’’
…
Free’s reaction was the total opposite of his mother’s.

‘I was rolling,’ Free said. ‘It was hilarious. And it was true.’

Not only is this further confirmation that Prince would play a basketball game decked out in frilly shirts, but the fact that Charlie Murphy sent an email saying “I got you, mother fucker” makes this all that much better.

In the skit, Charlie Murphy describes Micki Free as “the new cat in Shalamar, that when he joined the group I heard mad cats like, yo, Shalamar got a new girl, man, that b—- is fine like a m—–f—–.”

For real, if Free is willing to admit he looked like a chick, and Murphy is willing to admit that he lost to dudes in blouses, this story couldn’t get any more validation.

Unless, of course, Prince rises from the dead with photographic evidence that it happened. I mean, I’m not going to rule it out. Prince has done crazier shit.

Also, tucked away in The Undefeated’s interview with Free is a little blurb about the time Prince challenged Michael Jackson to a game of ping pong.

Again, Prince dominated.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Michael, a star since age 8 who had lived a sheltered life, didn’t know how.

‘You want me to slam it?’ Prince asked, according to engineer David Z, who was there.

‘Michael drops his paddle and holds his hands up in front of his face so the ball won’t hit him. Michael walks out with his bodyguard, and Prince starts strutting around like a rooster. ‘Did you see that? He played like Helen Keller.’

Prince was ruthless. I miss that man.

Real talk, though: If you have a chance to bring Prince or Harambe back from the dead, which do you take? I’m conflicted.

RIP you beautiful, athletic bastards..

[via The Undefeated, Minneapolis Star-Tribune]