Rex Everett Chapman (born October 5, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player and social media influencer, mostly known for his time with the Charlotte Hornets from 1988 to 1992 and for his time with the Phoenix Suns from 1996 to 2000. Chapman was a high school star in Kentucky, winning many awards for his play. In two seasons at the University of Kentucky, he won further awards and scored more than 1,000 points. Chapman was the first draft pick of the expansion Charlotte Hornets and played on four National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Over his 12-year career, he averaged 14.6 points per game and appeared in two slam dunk competitions.
Injuries sustained on NBA courts led Chapman to an addiction to opioids. Following an arrest for shoplifting, he entered drug rehab for the third time and was able to overcome his addiction. After retiring, Chapman held several jobs with NBA teams, culminating in being the vice president of player personnel with the Denver Nuggets. He is a broadcaster for University of Kentucky basketball games.
Early life and education
Rex Chapman was born October 5, 1967, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Rex's father is Wayne Chapman, who played in the American Basketball Association and coached Kentucky Wesleyan College to two NCAA Division II national championships. Chapman had a turbulent relationship with his father; he and his sister, Jenny, "used to pray that Wayne's teams would win" so the mood of the house would not be tense, while his mother, Laura, would attempt to defuse the tension. During his junior year, Chapman led his team to the state quarterfinals. Chapman improved his sophomore year average to 19 points a game. The Wildcats were ranked as the sixth college basketball team in the nation by the AP and UPI and secured the No. 2 seed in the South region of the 1988 NCAA tournament.
Professional career
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), an expansion team, selected Chapman with the eighth overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft; he became the first player ever drafted by the Hornets. Chapman averaged 16.9 points per game in his rookie season. Chapman competed in the 1990 and 1991 Slam Dunk Contests, earning recognition for his dunks, where he would flip the ball. After two-and-a-half seasons with the Hornets, Chapman was traded midway through the 1991–1992 season to the Washington Bullets. He was injured, however, and could only participate in the final game of the season. Chapman averaged 14.8 points per game during the 1995–96 season. Unfortunately, later in the season Chapman found himself on the injured list again and only participated in 56 games. He eventually signed with the Suns. Chapman had two memorable games against the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the play-offs. In Game 1, he set a play-off record for made three-point shots by going 9 for 17 from behind the arc versus the Seattle SuperSonics. In game four, Chapman hit an off-balance three-point shot on an inbounds pass to send the game to overtime, although the Suns went on to lose.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| align="left" | 1988–89
| align="left" | Charlotte
| 75 || 44 || 29.6 || .414 || .314 || .795 || 2.5 || 2.3 || 0.9 || 0.3 || 16.9
|-
| align="left" | 1989–90
| align="left" | Charlotte
| 54 || 52 || 32.6 || .408 || .331 || .750 || 3.3 || 2.4 || 0.9 || 0.1 || 17.5
|-
| align="left" | 1990–91
| align="left" | Charlotte
| 70 || 68 || 30.0 || .445 || .324 || .830 || 2.7 || 3.6 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 15.7
|-
| align="left" rowspan=2| 1991–92
| align="left" | Charlotte
| 21 || 11 || 26.0 || .450 || .296 || .679 || 2.6 || 4.1 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 12.4
|-
| align="left" | Washington
| 1 || 0 || 22.0 || .417 || .000 || − || 4.0 || 3.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 10.0
|-
| align="left" | 1992-93
| align="left" | Washington
| 60 || 23 || 21.7 || .477 || .371 || .810 || 1.5 || 1.9 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 12.5
|-
| align="left" | 1993-94
| align="left" | Washington
| 60 || 59 || 33.8 || .498 || .388 || .816 || 2.4 || 3.1 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 18.2
|-
| align="left" | 1994-95
| align="left" | Washington
| 45 || 29 || 32.6 || .397 || .314 || .862 || 2.5 || 2.8 || 1.5 || 0.3 || 16.2
|-
| align="left" | 1995-96
| align="left" | Miami
| 56 || 50 || 33.3 || .426 || .371 || .735 || 2.6 || 3.0 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 14.0
|-
| align="left" | 1996–97
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 65 || 33 || 28.2 || .443 || .350 || .832 || 2.8 || 2.8 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 13.8
|-
| align="left" | 1997–98
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 68 || 67 || 33.3 || .427 || .386 || .781 || 2.5 || 3.0 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 15.9
|-
| align="left" | 1998–99
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 38 || 35 || 31.1 || .359 || .351 || .835 || 2.7 || 2.9 || 0.9 || 0.2 || 12.1
|-
| align="left" | 1999–00
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 58 || 19 || 18.1 || .388 || .333 || .756 || 1.5 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 6.6
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 666 || 490 || 29.3 || .430 || .350 || .800 || 2.5 || 2.7 || 0.9 || 0.2 || 14.6
Playoffs
|-
| align="left" | 1996
| align="left" | Miami
| 3 || 3 || 29.3 || .429 || .231 || − || 2.0 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 9.0
|-
| align="left" | 1997
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 5 || 5 || 38.2 || .494 || .458 || .680 || 3.2 || 2.6 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 24.2
|-
| align="left" | 1998
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 2 || 2 || 29.0 || .261 || .000 || .857 || 0.0 || 2.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 9.0
|-
| align="left" | 1999
| align="left" | Phoenix
| 3 || 3 || 19.0 || .286 || .333 || .750 || 2.0 || 2.0 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 5.7
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 13 || 13 || 30.3 || .419 || .375 || .722 || 2.2 || 2.2 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 14.1
Post-playing life
After retiring from active play, Chapman's drug addiction intensified. In 2005, he moved from Phoenix to accept a personnel scout position with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In September 2014, Chapman was arrested for shoplifting merchandise from an Apple Store in Scottsdale, Arizona. Chapman made it appear that he was paying for an item at self checkout, but left the store and pawned the item to pay for gambling debts. Chapman eventually moved back to Lexington, where he states he stays clean, eats healthily, and swims daily. Chapman, however, does not agree with being labeled that way and commented in 2020, "I'm not even sure what that means... Me, an influencer? Man, I hope not." The last episode aired in 2020. Until April 2023, he hosted a podcast called The Rex Chapman Show, which debuted on Basketballnews.com on March 16, 2021, with friend and actor Josh Hopkins.
Television
In January 2022, CNN announced that Chapman will appear as a host on CNN+, the network's streaming platform. The show, simply titled Rex Chapman, premiered on April 4, 2022, and aired four episodes before the service shut down on April 28.
In March 2022, Chapman served as a studio analyst for coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
In September 2022, entertainment business magazine Variety announced Chapman's podcast, “Charges with Rex Chapman”, would be turning into a TV show. Like the podcast, the new series will come from Portal A and Steve Nash's CTRL Media.
Memoir
In February 2024, Chapman's "blunt memoir about stardom, addiction, and American culture" It's Hard For Me To Live With Me was published.
See also
- List of second-generation NBA players
Notes
References
External links
- Our National Pain a 2017 essay by Chapman for Sports Illustrated