Since the tragic death of Prince last month, it seems like every star who lived, worked or socialized within Hollywood's ritzy circles since the '80s has at least one classic story to tell about the music icon.
NBA Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson took his turn during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Thursday night. During his playing days in Los Angeles, Magic said he was never one to turn down a party, so you can only imagine the crazy catalog of Prince run-ins he must have. On late-night television, however, Magic opted to share one of his kookiest Prince interactions, or "one of his greatest joys," as he put it.
Magic used to own his own chain of movie theaters in the mid-'90s, and Prince was one of his most loyal customers, but with a catch: He would only come to the theater at 2 a.m — which was usually closing time.
Prince was a known night owl, but even this request made Magic go, "Like, what?"
But Prince is Prince, so of course Magic would have his manager and projectionist open up the theater for a late-late night showing. The first time this happened though, Magic was shocked at the sight of Prince and his posse rolling up.
"He brings this big bus full of people. Jimmy, when they get off, they're all in pajamas!" Prince's late-night pajama watch parties became a recurring event for Magic, who was always more than happy to oblige. I mean, c'mon, it's Prince.
During the interview with Kimmel, Magic also touched on Prince as a basketball player. But unlike past scouting reports, Magic's take on the singer's skills was dismissive.
"He talked so much trash! He thought he had a real jump shot," he said. "He really thought he could play basketball."
So there you have it: Aside from being a late-night movie buff, Prince was a trash-talking baller with an outsized view of himself on the court.
Still, from our perspective, that view always seemed to perfectly fit the man.
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