The NBA is one of the most popular leagues in the world. Owing to its fanbase, the stars in the league are very handsomely paid to play the game of basketball. The salaries of superstars have grown massively in the last decade in particular. Even though players from the early ’90s and 2000s did not receive as much as the current players, they were still well paid. Over the years, while some athletes managed their hard-earned money properly, some did not.

One such star is Rex Chapman who lost everything he earned from his NBA salary because of a drug addiction. However, he has made some major strides in recent years. Notably, Over 20 million Americans reportedly struggle with addiction to one substance or the other.

The NBA legend celebrated his progress

Rex Chapman played in the NBA for 12 long seasons. Notably, the Charlotte Hornets selected Chapman as the 8th overall pick in the 1988 draft. Notably, the Hornets were an expansion team and Rex was their first ever selection. His numbers fluctuated in the seasons that followed, however, he still played a crucial role wherever he played. Over the course of his career, Chapman reportedly earned around $40 million in NBA salary alone. However, he lost it all by 2014 according to a report from Yahoo.

As per the report, Chapman struggled with drug addiction which spiraled out of control in the years after his retirement. The former star turned his life around since and has been clean for nine years now. He recently took to X to celebrate this with the caption, “Today marks nine years clean from opioids.”

After two good years with Kentucky, Chapman hit the ground running in the league as well. In his rookie year, he averaged 16.9 points per game and made it to the All-Rookie Second Team. The former shooting guard’s best year came with the Washington Bullets in 1994.

Nicknamed Boy Wonder, he even went toe-to-toe with Michael Jordan a few times. Even though injuries slowed him down, he finished his career in 2000 with a decent 14.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game average, as per ESPN.

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Popular analysts like Rich Eisen and Rachel Nichols expressed their happiness for Chapman’s progress in the comments.

Rex Chapman’s road to recovery

Rex Chapman once opened up about his struggles during an interview.

He said, “My life just kept getting worse and worse. My decisions kept getting worse and worse, until I’m gambling everyday, I’ve gotta have my medicine everyday.”

At his lowest point, Chapman was reportedly caught stealing more than $18,000 worth of products from an Apple store in an attempt to pay off his debts. After this, he gave another shot at rehab and finally overcame his addiction.

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