LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Rex Chapman says during his two seasons as a University of Kentucky basketball player boosters handed him so much cash that he kept it in a shoebox under his bed at Wildcat Lodge.
He told his roommate, Reggie Hanson, a player that UK recruited at Chapman's insistence, to take money any time he needed because Chapman could always get more.
How much more?
In 1988, when word leaked that Chapman was considering leaving for the NBA after his sophomore season, UK head coach Eddie Sutton summoned him to the basketball offices after the season ended.
People around the program calculated how much money Chapman would make as an NBA rookie, and Sutton told him that he could make certain Chapman would cover the $700,000 pro salary if he played another year for the Wildcats.
Who knew Kentucky basketball was a cutting edge NIL factory?
Everybody knew — including Chapman, who initially orally committed to playing for Denny Crum at Louisville but later balked after he was exposed to the full menu of Lexington temptations (money, women, horse racing, luxurious accommodations, fast cars).
That was the road to becoming King Rex with a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated and feature stories on CBS Sports back in 1986.
Sounds like a wonderful life, becoming the boy hero of an entire state, right?
Wrong.
Chapman, 56, regrets much of it, spelling everything out in unflinching detail in the book that he wrote with CBS Sports analyst Seth Davis.
Released this week, "Rex Chapman: It's Hard for Me to Live with Me, A Memoir," (Simon & Schuster, $27.99) is 253 pages of sizzling self-examination, regret, hope, anger, cleansing and raw honesty from Chapman.
"Some people believe when you're That Guy, what do you have to worry about?" Davis said. "But sometimes when you're dealing with depression and anxiety, being That Guy makes things worse."
So shaken by anxiety that he routinely vomited before every game until he was several seasons in his pro career, Chapman shared amazing details about his life as a basketball prodigy, statewide hero, NBA star, NBA executive, degenerate gambler, opioid addict, shoplifter and spokesperson for how to recover and help others navigate the challenges of life after hitting rock bottom while burning through nearly $40 million.
For Chapman, rock bottom was the public humiliation of being surrounded by four police cars, getting arrested and spending the night in a Phoenix, Arizona, jail after a shoplifting incident at an Apple Store.
Chapman was put in a cell with another troubled soul who removed his clothes and hunched in a corner masturbating.
That was a telling marker in a long, tortured journey from being Kentucky's beloved Mr. Basketball at Owensboro's Apollo High School in 1986, two solid but unsatisfying seasons at UK, being a first-round draft pick of the expansion Charlotte Hornets and a complex 12-season NBA odyssey covered with multiple injuries and trades.
Consider the book a chilling reminder of how little we truly know about the emotions and struggles churning inside the adolescents, teenagers and young adults who are awash in glory and idolized as sports heroes.
Davis said he and Chapman met and became friends more than a decade ago. They discussed working on a book multiple times, but the talks became serious after Chapman's media profile grew during the summer of 2020 when Chapman spoke out on social justice issues on Twitter in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.
As a white star in a sport usually dominated by Black players and well as a white man who often dated Black women, Chapman was motivated for serious conversations about race.
Davis said Chapman understands some will criticize his opinions and decision to write the book.
"But Rex said that he lived in his car before and he could live in his car again," Davis said.
Finishing the book was challenging. Davis said that when an editor at Simon & Schuster made the decision to change the format to a first-person narrative, Chapman endured a severe panic attack while reading the manuscript.
It's a sensitive and compelling story, that should resonate well beyond the world of Kentuckiana sports fans who have been fascinated by Chapman since his emergence of a high school phenom.
We did not know Chapman was frustrated by his relationship with his father, Wayne, a former pro basketball player. Wayne Chapman was also a coach, more from the Bob Knight School than the School of Affirmation.
Once, when Chapman returned home after playing what he thought was a particularly spectacular all-around game, his dad gave him the silent treatment. Eventually, Rex asked for his dad's opinion, and his dad's opinion was that Rex let him down by failing to take any defensive charges.
We did not know (although we heard whispers that UK worked tirelessly to cover up) that Chapman developed a toxic relationship with Sutton, whose unchecked struggle with alcohol became a major issue at UK practices.
Battling insomnia, Chapman headed toward the hotel lobby early in the morning of his first game with the Wildcats at Louisville in late December 1986. As Chapman exited the elevator, the first person he met was Sutton — with a bottle of Absolut vodka sticking out of his pockets.
"He is hammered," Chapman writes.
The day ended with Chapman scoring 26 points as the Wildcats rout the Cards, 85-51. Chapman owned the entire state — until an episode later that season in which he was so tormented by anxiety he is taken to the hospital because he cannot catch his breath or lift his arms.
We did not know (although we heard louder whispers) that Chapman was called into the basketball office on multiple occasions and asked to be more discreet about his relationship with his girlfriend, Shawn Higgs, a Black woman from Owensboro as well as the younger sister of former UK football player Mark Higgs.
Sutton and the UK assistants gave Chapman the same speech that he received from his parents: They had no issues with interracial dating, but other people might.
Chapman tried to keep his time with Shawn as private as possible, which helped lead to the collapse of the relationship and his spirit.
Does Chapman wish he would have been bolder and followed his heart despite societal disapproval of those times?
You bet.
Does Chapman wish he would have followed his original instincts and played for Crum at Louisville?
Yes, he does.
Would Chapman have benefited from the mental health counseling that more programs and universities have made available to players in recent years?
Absolutely.
Does Chapman deserve credit for sharing his most embarrassing moments so that others can overcome their fear to ask for help?
Without a doubt.
Credit to Chapman for laying it all out there, painful detail by painful detail.
It's the latest courageous step on the changes Chapman worked on after a group of family members and friends in Kentucky brought him home to receive treatment in Louisville at The Brook. Fortunately, for Chapman, that facility was directed by Paul Andrews, another former UK player, who tirelessly supported him.
The treatment program led Chapman to a healthier and more productive path. Returning to live in Phoenix after time in Lexington and New York City, Chapman has strengthened his relationship with his four children.
His upbeat, quirky X (formerly Twitter) account features more than 1.2 million followers. His popular podcast, Owned by Rex Chapman, has been put on hold because he resumed working in the NBA in community relations for the Suns.
Chapman is in a better place after an amazing journey that he powerfully illuminates in this book.
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