Remembering Charlie Murphy's Epic Tale About Prince Beating Him In Basketball

Social media can be a vapid, chaotic environment riddled with negativity, but there are times when it can be a place full of nostalgia and happy reminiscing. Such was the case on Thursday when people recalled comedian Charlie Murphy's tale about a time when Prince beat him in a basketball game.

It all started after a Twitter user shared a vintage clip of the late legendary musician Prince nailing a jump shot in the middle of a concert.

Prince fans who were already well aware of the singer's skills on the basketball court were appreciative of the throwback video. However, the clip got some people thinking about the late Murphy, particularly a story he told on Chappelle's Show about losing a basketball game to Prince.

"So the late, great Charlie Murphy trending because his classic Chappelle's Show skit about Prince beating him at basketball was verified as 100 percent true is my favorite thing tonight (though Prince fans knew it). That show was one of the funniest, boldest things ever on TV," Joy-Ann Reid, host of MNBC's The Reidout, tweeted early on Friday.

Murphy appeared on a 2004 episode of Dave Chappelle's Comedy Central series and had viewers in stitches with his classic sketch, "Charlie Murphy's Hollywood Stories—Prince," in which Chappelle portrayed the iconic singer and songwriter.

During the six-minute clip, Murphy recalls a night out at a Los Angeles club with his brother, comedian and actor Eddie Murphy. According to Charlie Murphy, Prince arrived out of nowhere and randomly invited the duo to hang out at his house. Not long after they arrived at Prince's manor, the musician challenged Charlie Murphy and his crew to a game of basketball, which Murphy dubbed "The Shirts against The Blouses."

"[Prince] had his helper or whatever go and get some shorts and sneakers, and he gave them to us. And I'm laughing like, 'This I gonna be some funny-a** s**t," Charlie Murphy recalled.

Charlie Murphy completely underestimated Prince, who played the game in the same outfit he wore to the club, and Murphy goes on to explain how the musician and his Revolution bandmates won the game. "I kinda learned something that day: Don't ever judge a book by its cover. This cat could ball, man," Murphy said.

He concluded: "I was there. I seen it. You don't believe me? You think I'm trying to, you know, enhance the story because I'm involved or trying to give myself an excuse for losing because I'm telling you a story about Prince? I dare you to challenge Prince to a game of ball one-on-one. Challenge him! Alright? And make sure your people there to see the game, 'causes you might get embarrassed."

Despite the hilarity of the video, Charlie Murphy was telling the truth about his encounter on the basketball court with Prince. And some folks on Twitter took the clip of Prince shooting the ball at his concert as validation of Murphy's story.

"I hope none of y'all ever doubted Charlie Murphy. [Prince] spinning the ball on his fingers was all you needed to see, but to me, the best part is when he stuck his tongue out just before throwing in that j. That's a real baller there," one Twitter user wrote.

Another wrote: "Y'all thought Charlie Murphy was lying about Prince playing basketball? Real Prince fans know Prince used to play ball back in his high school days."

Eddie Murphy recently confirmed his late brother's story during a February appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. When asked about the pickup basketball game, Eddie Murphy said, "That is totally and absolutely accurate."

"The blouses won. They beat the s**t out of us," he continued.