Ex-NBA Player Carlos Boozer Says Prince Wired Him $500K To 'Ease' His Mind After Nearly Suing The Late Legend

Around 2004 to 2005, the former NBA player inked a contract with the Utah Jazz and was looking for a home in Los Angeles, CA, he recalled to ESPN.

Boozer went forward with buying a Bel Air estate that he said had about 10-12 bedrooms. Following the purchase, he received numerous calls from people wanting to rent out his home, which he rejected. However, an offer popped up that he couldn’t refuse. His agent at the time shared with him that a high-profile client wanted to rent out his home for a year for $95,000 a month.

After signing the paperwork, it was revealed that the client was none other than Prince.

While Boozer was playing for the Utah Jazz at the time, a hamstring injury required him to fly back to L.A. for rehab, and he informed Prince that he would be stopping by the house. When he pulled up, his home was unrecognizable.

“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?’” Boozer told ESPN. “I know I haven’t spent much time here, but this doesn’t look like my house.”

He continued: “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-ck is going on?’”

According to Boozer, when he finally walked inside, all of his furniture and the carpet were replaced. What’s more, Prince had transformed the rooms. While the weight room turned into a nightclub, the guest rooms became hair salons, and the room adjacent to them was a massage parlor.

Upset with the total transformation, Boozer initially called up Prince, but he didn’t answer. Then, Boozer eventually went to call his lawyer who mentioned that suing the legend was an option. But ultimately, the two parties reached an amicable agreement.

“Nobody really wants to sue Prince,” Boozer admitted.

“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.”

In an interview with The Dan Patrick Show, Boozer said Prince wired him $500,000 to “ease” his mind.

While renting his home out to Prince was a roller coaster ride, it ended up benefitting Boozer in the long run.

He bought the home for $8.6 million but was able to sell it for $12.4 million because he rented it out for a year.