A story by Steve Parke, an award-winning photographer, illustrator, and designer best known for his 13-year creative partnership with the legendary musician Prince.
A tight black scoop-neck shirt, dark bell-bottom pants, and a fresh pair of Nike Air Force 1 high-tops. It sounds like a strange outfit for a wild rock concert. But on this specific day, it was the absolute perfect uniform for a fierce game of one-on-one basketball.
And my opponent was none other than Prince.
The World Inside Prince’s Paisley Park
It was 1998. I sat in a quiet conference room at Paisley Park. I was there to interview the biggest music star on earth. But the meeting was terrible.
He spoke very fast. He gave me strange, cryptic answers. He was completely hiding behind a heavy mask. I flew home feeling totally depressed. I just wanted to know the real person. So, I sent him an email with ten simple questions. The very last question was a wild, crazy guess. I asked, “Will you play basketball with me?”
He quickly wrote back, “Anytime, brother.”
Two weeks later, I walked back into his giant house. I brought my own basketball. Suddenly, he looked at his assistant. He told them to bring out a box of sneakers and clear the floor. We were actually going to play!
He stepped onto the court in his wild bell-bottom pants. But make no mistake. Prince could really ball. He played in high school, and he played all the time on tour. He moved extremely fast. He was deeply aggressive. He even talked a little trash! His jump shot had a high, beautiful arc. It looked exactly like Steph Curry’s famous shot. He was a true, competitive athlete.
PRINCE PLAYING BASKETBALL
Soon, we teamed up for a fun game of two-on-two. We were laughing and winning. He was slashing to the hoop and making tough layups. He felt like just one of the guys.
At one point, I threw a fast, no-look pass right at his face. I panicked. I wanted to yell his name to warn him. But he was using an unpronounceable symbol back then. I was strictly told not to call him Prince. I froze mid-word. The ball flew right past his nose. He ran to get the ball and started giggling. He looked right at me and smiled. He knew exactly why I froze.
The heavy, superstar mask was finally gone. I was just talking to a normal guy playing a fun game.
You can sell millions of records. You can be the most famous, brilliant pop star in the whole universe. But true happiness often comes from the simple, normal things in life. Sometimes, all you really need is a quiet afternoon, a good friend, and a bouncing basketball to feel totally free.