PHOENIX — Many of you remember Rex Chapman the basketball player. Some know him for his always viral social media account on X (formerly known as Twitter).
But Chapman’s story stretches far beyond that, much deeper and darker. The former Phoenix Sun spent 12 years in the NBA and made millions, but lost everything, including nearly losing his life to addiction. The comeback is pretty epic and the entire story is something you won’t be able to put down in his new tell-all book titled 'It's Hard for Me to Live with Me.'
“I feel pretty conflicted being here being celebrated for failing so miserably at life,” said Chapman.
Reading through Chapman’s life, you won’t find fiction. The realness jumps off the pages.
“Been probably mildly depressed since I was a teenager, and I didn't really have any coping skills to deal with life.”
A basketball life built for a king. King Rex grew up in a basketball family, starred at a basketball school at the University of Kentucky, and played in the NBA for a dozen, but there was a dark side. Reading the pages of his new autobiography out loud in front of a crowd at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe brings back the darkest days.
“I was always running around and getting in trouble, and I guess because I was a good player, I got out of trouble easily," he said. "That led to a lot of bad behavior."
Different is putting his life on paper for the world to read. His bad behavior in battling drug and gambling addictions cost him relationships, money and family.
“Digging out of that has been tough. In the book, I'm just trying to do differently," Chapman added. "Learning to sit in my bad emotions and not run from them and not self-medicate. That's been that's been the toughest thing and still is.”
One of the saddest moments happened 10 years ago. Chapman was arrested for stealing from an Apple store in Scottsdale. A third stint in rehab and strong advice from his former college coach Rick Pitino finally got through.
“I mentioned in the book, a good friend of mine is Rick Pitino. And Rick looked at me and said, 'Listen, you're going to eat a lot (expletive) for a while. At first, it's going to feel like a big beach ball size (expletive). Then if you keep doing the next right thing, it's going to go to a basketball sized, then a volleyball, keep doing the right thing then a softball, then a baseball and then a ping pong ball and then a pebble.' For whatever reason, I latched on to that,” Champan explained.
Keep doing the right thing and those relationships come back, especially with his four kids.
“I regret how I lived my life. For a large part of my kids' life, I was a drug addict," he stated. "So I'm trying to do better for them and hopefully this will help them know me a little better.”
Life is better, healthier, and happier, and basketball plays a major part in that.
“I'm Vice President of nothing,” Rex said laughing with a big smile.
Chapman spends much of his time around the game courtside, consulting for his former team the Suns, and his son, Zeke, works there. He’s a video coordinator on head coach Frank Vogel’s staff.
“It (basketball) is not as much of my identity now, but I do enjoy being around it. And I love that even after all these years after so many mistakes, there are people that still value my experiences.”
Reading through Chapman’s life, you won’t find fiction. But you will find a path to get your life back.
“If you hear one thing it can change your whole life,” Champan proclaimed.
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