Remembering Prince: The time he ‘put his Purple Rain stamp on’ Carlos Boozer’s mansion

Former Laker Carlos Boozer is one of the many celebrities who have paid their respects to Prince, who died Thursday at age 57.

“Can’t Believe This... RIP To One Of The Biggest Icons Ever...” Boozer wrote on Instagram to accompany a “Purple Rain”-era photo of the legendary musician.

But there was a time not too long ago that Prince reportedly wasn’t in the good graces of the two-time NBA all-star. That was back in 2004 after the multiple Grammy winner rented Boozer’s West Hollywood mansion for eight months -- and made a few changes while he lived there.

Boozer’s former Duke teammate Jay Williams told ESPN Radio back in 2011: “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.

“He put his Purple Rain stamp on it.”

Other reported changes included purple stripes painted on the exterior of the house and purple monogrammed carpet in the master bedroom.

According to Williams, Boozer was livid -- but his anger didn’t last long.

“Booz was like, ‘I was getting ready to go over there and beat this little man down,’ ” Williams said. “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 has said he signed an agreement not to publicly discuss any specifics of the rental deal. But the former player did provide a little insight to the Chicago Tribune back in 2011.

“He made it purple,” Boozer said. “He wanted to put his personal touch on it because he wanted to make it feel like home. I was kind of worried about that when I saw the house. But Prince was great. I had a conversation with him. He changed everything back the way it was before he moved out.

“He did some very specific things that were built for him and his lifestyle, which is very different than mine.”

Boozer, who has since said then he considers Prince a friend, added: “He knows how to live, I’ll put it that way.”