This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Carlos Boozer's Los Angeles mansion has been redecorated a garish, flamboyant purple?
Figures. Laker colors.
For a change, though, the Jazz's power forward isn't being linked to Hollywood's favorite team, but to its other pastime of choice: Show biz.
Boozer sued rock music star Prince in January, apparently turning purple with rage over alterations to his 10-bedroom, 11-bath estate, according to court documents published by thesmokinggun.com Web site. But Boozer dropped his case a month ago.
The complaint: Prince had purple stripes painted on the mansion's exterior, along with the elaborate symbol he adopted as his name in the 1990s, and the numbers "3121," which is the title of his new album.
The singer also had black carpet installed in a guest room, monogrammed purple carpet put down in the master bedroom, and had a hole cut in a wall and installed plumbing for beauty-salon chairs 9 all without Boozer's permission, the lawsuit states.
Boozer and his wife CeCe bought the property last summer for a reported $8.6 million and rented it to Prince for eight months at $70,000 a month 9 roughly half the amount he earns every time the Jazz play 9 through a limited-liability corporation he set up, C Booz Multifamily I LLC, according to the Web site.
Prince plans to stage a concert at the house, too, as part of a promotion for the new album, which was released Tuesday.
Boozer, frequently the subject of trade rumors that have him shipped to the Lakers, signed a confidentiality agreement about the lease, the Web site reported. At Tuesday's shootaround, the Jazz forward declined to discuss the suit or his mansion, reportedly now for sale at $11.9 million, purple stripes and all.
Apparently by coincidence, Prince stayed at the same Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta late last week as the Jazz, who were there for a game with the Hawks.
The lawsuit is not the first problem the Jazz's highest-paid player has had with landlord-tenant relations. Shortly after signing a six-year, $68 million contract with Utah in July 2004, Boozer settled a suit filed by Cleveland Browns defensive back Percy Ellsworth, who had rented the NBA player a home in suburban Cleveland. Ellsworth's suit claimed Boozer owed him $12,500 in back rent, and another $2,500 for taking the home's washer and dryer when he moved out.
Boozer's attorneys asked in mid-February that his suit against Prince be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the Jazz player can file it again if he chooses. The lease runs out on May 31.