James “Jimmy Jam” Harris and Terry Steven Lewis are among the most famous American record production teams. They are responsible for Prince’s career success, but now, Jimmy Jam talks about another side of Prince’s life. The Minnesota music legend says Prince could have been an amazing basketball player.
Music Legend Says Prince had Steph Curry-like Skills
Recently Jimmy Jam did an interview with ESPN’s Jay Harris and Marc Spears. The legendary music producer and songwriter is an OG Minnesota Timberwolves fan and spoke about his lifetime love of basketball. Over the years, he has produced for icons like Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men, and Usher, but more importantly, he and Terry Lewis played as Prince’s backing band, the Time. During the appearance on ESPN, he talked about how Prince could have been a great basketball player. He said,
“Prince was a hell of a basketball player man. I met him in junior high and he played man and he was good like he was like Steph Curry could shoot the lights out handles. Prince just had great handles. You couldn’t take the ball from Prince, like he’d dribble around you and make you look foolish if you tried to reach for the ball. He just goes right around you and then he just pulls up and shoots before you block him. He was also very analytical, he was a good athlete, but he was also very smart and knew how to beat you. If you play him on a certain side, he could fake you and go around.”
Jimmy and Prince spent plenty of time together, and during one period, the famous musician even played a game of HORSE with people. Jimmy Jam talked about it, saying,
“I remember at this studio called Sunset Sound out in LA they had a basketball hoop set up there and Prince would play games of HORSE with anybody who would want to play, and it wasn’t like a court it was just basically a basketball hoop in the middle of all the studios.”
Prince’s Basketball Career
The fun part is that Prince actually had a short basketball career. He played high school basketball at Bryant Junior High School and then Minneapolis Central High School. Central had a successful basketball program in the 70s, but the school was closed down and demolished in 1982.
During his high school years, Prince’s big weakness was his height. He was very short, standing at 5’2” tall with a slender frame.
Choosing Music Over Basketball
Prince might have been a good basketball player if music didn’t intervene. In 1977, at the age of 18, he signed a six-figure contract with Warner Pros. That ended any hope of a basketball career, but his love for the game continued.
He was a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, and fans could see him regularly when the team started in 1989. Prince also attended games of the Minnesota WNBA team, the Lynx, witnessing three of the team’s four national titles.
More Prince’s Crazy Basketball Stories
Here is another crazy Prince basketball story. He and Eddie Murphy played a game, and the musician completely destroyed the famous comedian. Murphy has talked about it, saying,
“We had on club clothes, and Prince had on that outfit that was in the Kiss video, where he had the little short shirt and the leather jacket with the buttons and stuff. He had that outfit on, and a little gold chain around his waist. A waistlet, I think. He had on a waistlet, and he was like, ‘Yo, want to play some basketball?”
Prince played with someone called Micky Free, and they wore Prince’s clothes. Murphy and his brother wore shirts, and they called the game shirts vs. blouses. Eddie talked about the game, saying,
“They beat the s— out of us! But you know what I think? We had one dude on our squad that could play named Larry, and he didn’t have any shoes, so Prince gave him some sneakers, right? And Prince wore maybe two, or three sizes smaller than Larry, but Larry was so excited to have Prince’s sneakers on. He put them tiny sneakers on his feet, so he couldn’t do his game. He couldn’t execute.”
