While many players envision a bright future once their NBA careers end, with time, resources and opportunity on their side, former 12-year veteran Rex Chapman faced a period when hope felt out of reach.

Years of addiction and personal struggles had plunged Chapman, retired from playing since November 2000, into a harrowing downward spiral — one so severe that he ultimately resigned himself to a single path: a life defined by addiction.

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Chapman’s hidden battle

Chapman, an ex-6’4″ guard, had been a standout in high school and college, especially celebrated for his deadly shooting from long range and his clutch gene. After joining the NBA in 1988, he also showcased those traits, including a remarkable 39-point performance against the usually so dominant Chicago Bulls in 1996.

Beneath all of that, however, Chapman battled mental health struggles that, as he wrote in his blunt 2024 memoir “It’s Hard for Me to Live with Me,” had haunted him for as long as he could remember.

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To cope, “The Boy Wonder,” known for his lively and magnetic personality, leaned on habits that would ultimately come back to hurt him. Initially, he had turned to painkillers to manage the aches and injuries of a grueling basketball career. However, it soon escalated into a full-blown opioid addiction that followed him long after his NBA days had ended.

Coupled with a longstanding gambling habit, particularly on horse races, it drained his finances, strained his relationships with friends and his four children, while also contributing to his 2012 divorce from his longtime wife.

At the peak of his drug use, Rex was taking roughly 40 Vicodin and nine OxyContin a day, according to Sports Illustrated. Despite being fully aware that the pills were destroying him, he convinced himself he would keep going, letting addiction dictate his life.

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“My life’s just going to be as a drug addict,” Chapman said, per The New York Times, a blunt acknowledgment of the despair that once consumed him.

A journey of redemption

Chapman’s turning point came in September 2014, after being arrested for shoplifting $14,000 in electronics. With family support, he entered rehab in Louisville, Kentucky, confronting not just his addictions but the emotional pain that had fueled them.

“Saved my life,” Rex said of rehab.

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It helped him rebuild both body and mind — shedding the weight he had put on over the years, facing his mental health struggles and slowly stepping back into public life.

Chapman even found an unexpected creative outlet on X, amassing over a million followers with funny videos and occasional political commentary, which restored a sense of confidence and purpose.

“I saw a video one day of a school of dolphins swimming out to sea and a guy on a paddle board coming in and a dolphin jumped up and hit him in the chest and knocked him off. And I said to myself, ‘That’s a charge,'” he laughed, crediting that moment for inspiring his online presence.

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Furthermore, in 2019, a conversation with friend and former Phoenix Suns teammate Steve Nash led to his podcast “Charges,” where Chapman interviewed people rebuilding their lives.

“There’s something really cathartic about it,” he said, “But it never doesn’t hurt, because you’re telling a bunch of strangers the worst stuff in life.”

Now living in Brooklyn near his son Zeke, Chapman focuses on being a present father, mentoring others and sharing his remarkable story — one which proves that even after hitting rock bottom, redemption is possible and no situation, however dire, is ever truly without hope.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.