“I Was Rock Bottom:” Former NBA Star Rex Chapman on Addiction and Recovery | Amanpour and Company

Rex just made me feel sad, angry, relieved, privileged and happy all in 18 minutes. What a remarkable dude.

I've followed Rex for years on Twitter and had no idea about his former life. He's a really warm and decent man, to the point of shining like a light on a dark shore. Wow.

6/24/97 is my clean date!!! Rex is talking about Brene Brown “SHAME” The idea that we are not enough or lovable I loved when he talked about the candy through a lot of hard work today I am enough, and I am lovable

Rex, you are amazing! Thanks for sharing your story. It will reach and help many more people than you will ever know. Remember too - the past is the past. Live in the present - who you are now is inspirational. Embrace it!

14:16 Rex: "all the stars, black stars, they all put their arms around me. All of them."

I 🖤 how Rex talked about his sister growing up as an athlete & how it was different for her back wen they were kids. 17:33 Rex: " We deprived young women of that for a long time." Referring to the camaraderie that he experienced being part of a team on & off the court

I'm a recovering opiate addict with 16 years clean time. It never gets easy. I still dream about dope and jail and letting my folks down and all that 2 or 3 nights a week. Point is, I'm very happy for Rex, very proud of him. Moving on from opiates is phenomenally difficult but it IS possible. Stories like Rex's are proof.

Rex is a remarkable human and you can feel the goodness in his words

Rex's story is exactly Why the Sackler family shud hav been held MORE accountable! They shud hav paid waay more personally for all the harm they caused & inflicted w/ their incessant drug pushing of opioids. Y rn't those family members who led that company in prison? We said there was a war on drugs & these people were in the Dr.'s office doing drug deals!! Ugghhh!! Someone like Rex who seems to hav been a bit predisposed to anxiety & possibly some obsessive type tendencies & possibly other mental health challenges who had been bearing thru it has a Doctor prescribe them this drug that, as a result, spiraled his life down hill. From this interview it doesn't sound like he was abusing other drugs until he found Oxycontin which to a brain like Rex's filled a void he had been battling for years it sounds like. This is just so unforgivable by that stupid, selfish family that made their millions off the suffering of millions of people. There is no way for me to tell if Rex wud hav succumbed to other drug abuse had he not been intro'd to Oxy & maybe the gambling wud hav taken him dwn the path of ruin. It doesn't seem likely that Rex wud hav just grown & healed w/ out something catastrophic happening that finally convinced & signalled to him he needed to address watevr was going on internally but I truly wndr wat his life trajectory wud have been had he not been intro'd to that insidious drug Oxy in his Dr.'s office one day after a surgery?

It’s no small thing to come clean. Thanks for sharing.

CONGRATULATIONS! REX

I don’t follow sports at all but I just bought Rex’s book. Why? Clearly, Rex understands what it means to face life’s struggles head on, and so, who wouldn’t benefit from the lessons he’s learned?

God bless you rex

Rex is the real deal

Rex is actually likeable. Surprised

Authenticity.

he had a nickname in owensboro . Lets just say he likes the BBD

Pretty profound.

Identify the coach, name him right now

Rex is such a lefty. It hurts me that I idolized this person when I was a kid. He is a petty grifter for feelings.