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Charlotte Hornets: A look back at Rex Chapman

By Elijah Edwards

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a video board displaying all thirty draft picks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a video board displaying all thirty draft picks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the NBA Draft looming, let’s take some time to reflect on the past. Charlotte has had plenty of draft picks come and go, but today we’re discussing their very first: Rex Chapman.

It was the Summer of 1988. The Charlotte Hornets and Miami had just gone through the expansion draft and were hoping to further improve their new teams with fresh college players. Charlotte’s first pick landed at number eight. With that pick, they took a shooting guard out of Kentucky named Rex Chapman.

Coming off his sophomore year in Kentucky, Chapman had shown a penchant for scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game in his career. He also helped lead them to the Sweet 16 in his sophomore year where he averaged 19 points per contest.

In his first year as a Hornet, Chapman averaged just under 17 points per game, good enough for second on the team behind Kelly Tripucka and was elected to the NBA All-Rookie-Second-Team. Although the team went 20-62 that year, there was plenty of buzz around the Queen City. Chapman was certainly part of it.

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Chapman improved in his second year, despite only playing 54 games. He averaged 17.5 points per game and had improved his three-point shooting. The Hornets, however, took a small step backward winning only 19 games that season.

In his third and final full season with the Hornets, Chapman’s scoring average went down to 15.7 per game. A lot of that was due to how in flux the team roster was. As a result, Chapman spent a lot of time at point guard that year.

Chapman’s last game as a Hornet came on December 7th, 1991. In 21 games with the Hornets, he averaged just 12.4 points per game. Charlotte decided to part ways with Chapman in February of 1992, sending him to the Washington Bullets in exchange for Tom Hammonds. The emergence of Kendall Gill as the starting shooting guard as well as Chapman’s continued dissatisfaction with the team were reasons behind the trade.

Chapman went on to play eight more years in the NBA, including stints with the Bullets, Heat, and  Suns. Due to recurring injuries and numerous surgeries throughout his career, Chapman developed an addiction to painkillers. That addiction ultimately led to him stealing over $14,000 in goods from a Scottsdale, Arizona Apple Store. That served as a wake-up call. As a result, Chapman checked into his second and final stint in rehab nearly two weeks later.

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Fast forward to today and Chapman is now clean and sober and works as a host for NBA on TuneIn. While Rex might not be one of the all-time Hornet’s greats, he will always be the team’s first ever draft pick. Even though his tenure in Charlotte was fairly short, for a while, he gave fans something for which to cheer.

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