Rex Chapman on How Size of Jordan's Hands Made Him Dominant, Kobe "Really Young & Bad" (Part 4)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มี.ค. 2024
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Rex Chapman discussed his relationship with Michael Jordan, being introduced to high-stakes gambling, experiences with racism as a rookie, and his unexpected connection with Steph Curry. The former NBA player went from practices at his father’s D2 college to rubbing shoulders with MJ but revealed the shock of racist questioning about his girlfriend from team owner George Shinn. As he navigated the early years of his career with Charlotte, the youngest NBA player at the time, he became close to teammates Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry. Rex would sometimes babysit Dell's son, Steph Curry, not knowing that the baby next to him would grow up to be the legend he is today. The interview also touched on the financial mismanagement common among athletes due to their sudden influx of wealth. - บันเทิง
Watch the full interview now as a VladTV TH-cam Member - th-cam.com/users/vladtvjoin
I saw Mike play in person. The way he pumped the ball, waved it around, put english or flipped up layups in warm ups was like nothing I've seen before or since, center hands on a guard.
I too saw young MJ ball a few times in person at old LA Sports Arena vs Clippers. I remember we always made sure to get there for warmups cause he put on a layup/dunk show for the fans. A few times during game I had to look at replay on jumbotron to make sure my eyes hadn't deceived me. The guy was spectacular. The greatest athlete I have ever seen.
Kwahi got his hands but hes stiff
Ayo NO DIDDY 🙅🏽♂️
😂😂😂😂
@@GamingCentralTV1More stiff and less athletic. I think the closest player to young MJ with his speed and body control was D. Wade.
Michael jordan hands on those McDonald’s commercials made Big Macs look like sausage biscuits
😂😂😂 Goood one
😅😅😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Big Mac and a sausage biscuit are bout the same size anyway tho..
@@cuttycut2324 what McDonalds are u goin to bruh
That brief Hornets squad w/Rex, Glen Rice, Zo, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues
Was probably everyone's favorite team besides their home team
Use to see Larry Johnson in East Dallas. Driving a 500 on Lorenzo's.
They had the best logo and colors so hornets gear was selling coast to coast...at least it was here in NY.
@@MrJ1S funny you mention that, I recently and rather randomly ordered a used Hornets Starter snap-back cap on eBay for the nostalgia factor and well, cuz why not lol
What a squad. My era. Teenage years. I am trying to fortunate to have that era as my era to look up to. I am beyond grateful. Basketball when it was a mans game. Classy and professional. Maybe behind the scenes there were some sketchy stuff but those guys made sure they were a good example in front of the cameras and crowds. They knew kida were watching.
Don't forget about Kendall Gill
MJ's brother Larry also had that same advantage, the same quick first step , jump shot and almost the same vertical leap. MJ had said his older brother was actually better than him, he just happen to be blessed with the heigh (once he turned 16) (Larry topped off at 5'8). MJ basically played against himself all through Jr High to High School. Once he finally beat Larry one on one he felt he could finally beat anyone.
That's interesting 🤔
Very interesting
Larry Jordan was also the father’s favourite . It shows how being the GOAT in anything requires certain circumstances from the beginning . MJ was driven . .. theres multiple HOFers in sports who at their Induction speech more or less said “ F U dad “
@@jordancarlin9687 But MJ was best friends with his dad
Larry was not better at all. MJ said this just to give his bro some praise and credit. Not even close
The mentality of not wanting to wear another man's sneakers shows how the mentality of the NBA has changed now. Now everyone wants to be friends
Why can't we be friends??? Whyyyyy can't weeeeee beee frieeeeeennnnnnndddssss?? 😂😂😂
@@LaidBack-- underrated comment 😂
Yes and it's not good. The opposing team camaraderie.
First off that makes no goddamn sense there's what maybe 200 players in the NBA right now and how many players have a signature shoe? Maybe 20 and 20s probably a generous number
Because there aren't many real men playing professional sports nowadays
My cousin played MJ in poker. Back when he was playing baseball. He lost and owes MJ $1,500. He wrote him a check, thinking he's not gonna cash it. Checked his account the next day, and it was cashed......😂
Man wanted his money
😅😅
Lets funk off seriously like human traff style
Lmao 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
The era of the NBA Rex played in was by far my favorite period. I mean their were stars on every team and the playoffs were absolutely brutal
*there
Kids have no idea. The best rules of basketball in the 90’s, the best basketball plays, smartest basketball athletes in the 90’s. It was a tough game and that’s why 90’s basketball had best players.
the players were not the best. the newest generation will always be better just like every other sport.
All sports were the best in the 90s. Before the real greed set in.
I met Rex in the early 90s…my uncle used to be the strength and conditioning coach for the wildcats…he came to my uncles house in a dark blue porsh..we went to rupp arena and i watched them workout
This dude had crazy hops
He had a 44 inch vertical 😮
Rex was sooooo nice at KU
@@romeod7549UK
He sure did. For real! You'd have to watch his college years to see it. In the NBA he mainly shot from the outside.
@@romeod7549UK, he sadly never played for KU
MJ's hand spread, tip of his thumb to the tip of his pinky is 11 inches. For a guy 6'6", that's enormous..
I remember seeing it, as a kid, in a Sports Illustrated article with his hand superimposed on the magazine. It definitely put in perspective just how big his hands are.
11.75in
i just looked at mine and its maybe 8 inches lol. 9 if im lucky. just the eye test. and i can palm a basketball. i couldnt imagine if i had those extra 2 inches though. im 6' 2". give me 2 more inches of height too lol.
@@mrsain19 his hand from tip of pinky to tip of thumb is 11.375in and from bottom of palm to tip of middle finger is 9.75in
Thats insane
Dr. J's hands were larger than Jordan's. But he was also at least a legit 2 inches taller.
Mike has a left hand layup in the Championship game vs Georgetown that’s rarely ever shown in any of his highlights. It was just as clutch as his GW as he done it I believe right around the 3 min mark in the game. It was high off the glass right over Ewing after jumping from nearly outside of the paint. Crazy touch bc of those mitts.
It's not just the hands. People are overrating that because Phil said it. Kyrie has some of the best touch around the rim and his hands aren't that big. Palming the ball helps but the hang time MJ had helps more than anything. Creativity and body control as well
It is not being overrated, his hands are the difference maker in the air like Jackson said. Julius the Doctor Irving has the massive hands. Connie Hawkins , the huge hands.
Bobby Knight said Micheal (a very young MJ) was the most fundamentally sound basketball player he had ever seen when he coached him on the Olympic team……
Case closed on the left hand foolishness…..
@@Unithepiper Magic at those same olympics called MJ the best NBA player, even though he hadn't played one minute on an NBA floor.
They all had huge hands too and yet MJ was 1000x better then all them put together lol
Michael Jordan, the best there ever was and the best there ever will be
Wemby will be better
Wasn't that hard in a league that didn't have four in players. The best players in the NBA nowadays have summer from other countries something he never had to worry about. It's a whole different game now sure he was the best in his era but his era was much easier than it is now. Gianna's, Luca sonic.
Damn, you spelled LeBron James wrong...
@@mercurry718 and if you think James is better than MJ than you proved you suck at basketball
@@donttrip775 so I suck at basketball just because I have an opinion? In my opinion, LeBron is the GOAT...In your opinion I'm guessing your choice is MJ...the biggest difference is, I won't insult you for your opinion.... it's not that serious..
As a basketball fan I’m loving this interview
The way he talks about Steph is refreshing because kids weren't raised to be athletes back then.
Rex was a competitor. If they hadn’t run him out of Lexington his senior year would have been special.
WOW... VLAD with the almost 20 min clip!!! Much better than those 1.46 min clip (video 18 of 30) we usually see. Thanks! :) lol
Hell yeah 😂
Loved Rex on the Suns ☄️ Ain’t nothing like the 90s and 00s 😢
I didn't love Rex on the Suns when they played the Sonics.
I have Chapman, Mourning, Johnson & Bogues Mitchell & Ness jerseys signed so I’m excited for this interview
Rex seems like a good dude. Was a helluva player in college and NBA
Floyd that you?
My dad worked security at Chicago Stadium back in 96 and would sometimes take me with him to watch the game. A few times I was able to see MJ walk into the stadium and it was always different when he entered. It was like everything got quiet as if a king had arrived. It was crazy the amount of media traffic that surrounded him at all times. He was like a god and They were like his angels following his every move taking pictures and asking questions.
I saw a pic where Michael Jordan palms a pumpkin and never saw that before
Jimmy kimmel show he palmed a fukin pumpkin lol
This is what so many don’t realize in these silly GOAT debates. Jordan was physically gifted like none of these players all the way down to his hand size. His hands were literally about the size of Wilt’s who was a much larger man than Jordan. It allowed him do a lot more than Kobe and Lebron on the basketball court on both offense and defense. It’s hard to top that when even if he didn’t have big hands he still had the athleticism and work ethic to be great. Genetic Power Ball.
LeBron is a genetic freak himself. Kobe though, whilst a great athlete wasn't a freak of nature like the other two.
The problem with this argument is that hand size tends to correlate negatively with shooting ability. Great shooters almost all have average hand size and average arm length. Terrible shooters, esp terrible FT shooters tend to have long arms and big hands. MJ is an anomaly because he worked really hard on his shooting technique his second and third year in the NBA.
@@joel2421 It’s normally with big men though. At least back in the day bigs were working more on their post game where wings would work on their perimeter game. Shaq was prime example. He literally shot put the ball and hand to guide it because his hand size is very large. I remember in Shaq’s early days at TNT he asked Kawhi to put his palm against his and they were the same size. Kawhi is a pretty good shooter especially from the midrange. Dr J had large hands and was just an average shooter.
Shout out to Rex for the analogy of shooting with a soccer ball. I never looked at it like that and can see the difficulty. But I think having large hands have more pros than cons when playing basketball.
@@capbruhcorn Large hands are an advantage for everything except dribbling and shooting. Shooting is the single most important skill in basketball tho. Kawhi’s hands are similar to MJ’s and it took Kawhi many years to become a decent shooter and that was only after he hired a private shooting coach. The main point tho is that while MJ was obviously physically gifted, he wasn’t more gifted than say Kobe or Lebron and esp not based on his hand size. MJ put in a ton of work to overcome the disadvantage his hands gave him in terms of shooting. Dr. J actually followed MJ’s example and worked to become a better shooter later in his career. Lebron did the same thing.
@@joel2421 Take away Jordan’s hand size and give him an average hand size and he is still more gifted than Kobe and Lebron. When Jordan came into the league he played better than both Kobe and Lebron despite being held back at North Carolina. That’s not even debateable. The game just came easier to him. He missed virtually all of his second season but ending up scoring 63 against the best team in the league and eventual champion in the playoffs. When he retired in ‘93 and came back in ‘95 he scored 55 points in about his 3rd or 4th game back despite only being in baseball shape. My point is the game just comes natural to him and he is a freak of nature. Tim Grover said Mike worked smarter but Kobe worked harder. Kobe got all he could out of what he was blessed with but he wasn’t naturally as gifted as Jordan which is why he had to work harder. Kobe said it himself, he wished he had MJ’s hand size. When only a handful of guys in NBA could do certain things on the court due to their hand size that speaks volume of how much of an asset it was. It’s the internet though where folks will argue common sense.
Great interview. Humble.
Vlad man I'm so happy you did this interview I was a freshman in 87 and I Rex Chapman at Clem Haskins Summer basketball camp In St Paul Mn... He did the most awesome dunk from behind the backboard he bounced it and had hops as a kid watching him do that
I was a big Rex Chapman fan growing up. Sad to hear he wasn't treated right at UK.
MJ ruthless giving a pre rookie a bill for 10k and that was way more back then 😂
That's not cool , that's really some hoe ass shit . Being an asshole is all you hear about Kobe and Mike teammate wise. The opponents admired them but there teams hated them 🤷🏾♂️ . That's not cool
Not only was it worth way more due to inflation, those rookies didn't make too much.. 😂
It was an unwritten rule to hand rookies the bill.Mike was just continuing the tradition.🤷🏿♂️🤣
10k in 1988 is 30k today lmao. goddamn mike
@@KWillo relax man I just thought it was funny not mj hater
This is great. I could listen to this all day
What a likable guy a class act like I said I liked him back in the day and still do . Even more because get to hear and see who he really is
This is one of my favorite players as a kid, the Man was 🔥 from the 3-point line!
i used to do the Rex Chapman dunk where he lobbed it underneath one arm and caught w the other hand then hammered
On yer nerf goal?😂
Shout out to Rex! The Bullets years
That was a pretty good segment. Got to give Rex some credit here.
Michael Jordan played Rex Chapman 23x.
Rex averages: 14pts in those contests. MJ averages: 32.8pts, 6rpg, 6apg
Some of Rex's games include 0pts, 0pts, 7pts, 7pts, 8pts, 8pts, 8pts, 9pts, 9pts.... Some of Jordan's games include 33pts, 10reb, 12ast, 6stl('89), or 19pts, 10rebs, 11asts, and 57pts, 10ast, 6 threes, and MJ also had scoring games of 57pts, 47pts, 45pts, 41pts, and 40pts
🎉🎉🎉🎉
Rex had one good game against MJ. He scored 37 pts I believe in one contest against the Bulls when he was at Charlotte
Do you think Rex Chapman would have allowed a 20 year-old kid, who was not yet a pro with money, play in a card game where he could lose $10,000.00?
The last thing he said is what I’ve been saying forever. If you are competing with Jordan, why the hell will you ever be a fanboy while you guys are playing. “You never want to wear other man’s shoes.”
Anyone remember back in the day, I think it was a Sports Illustrated article, (might be wrong though), on Jordan with a picture of his hand which measured vertically, was the height of the entire magazine, and took up over a page in width. My 6th grade self was in awe.
I used to have a SI collector's book called Rare Air that had a two page spread of each of Mike's hands. You could overlay your hands on top and it looked like a kid's fingers were just dwarfed by a grown man's palm. BTW, I am 6'3" and can palm a basketball. MJ's mitts were like an inspector gadget cheat code that enabled him to manipulate the ball in ways no other guard could.
Damn! That really puts one of his cheat codes even in more perspective. I remember seeing him just toy with player's doing ball fakes at the 96 Olympics in Atlanta against Yugoslavia, (spelling?), and just thinking WTF, because the velocity and quickness he put on the pump fakes, definitely worked the way he wanted and he never had to readjust.
Yup, that was it, had to rack my memory bank, and I remember now having to do extra chores to save up to get it, as it wasn't part of the standard subscription, lol. As a kid any type of books or articles on him or Bo Jackson, I would almost break my neck to have lol.
I’ve always liked Rex Chapman. He’s always been a class act. He was a great player in his college and nba days.
2 biggest hands ive ever shaken. Michael Jordan and Larry Holmes
King Rex.. the Kentucky legend!
I believe this story about the Hornets owner asking about his black girlfriend.
Rex has turned out to be a wonderful person, I remember watching him from his UK days through his NBA career. Great humble guy.
What a legend!! Glad to see Rex❤
Great segment!
Dope interview
I’m 6’2 and I could jump with my hands above the rim . I SHOULD be able to dunk . But my hands are fairly small. If my hands were just bigger I know I coukd dunk it .
Having big hands is one of the biggest under-rated parts of being a good basketball player .
Exactly.MJ also ran a 4.3 in the 40.He had NFL player hands and speed.
Rex Chapman was always a great player to me, and I've watched a lot of basketball
Except for his extraordinary ability to play basketball, I relate to a lot of what Rex had to say. He didn't have to bare his soul but there is value in what he has to say and I am glad he is sharing his story.
Rex is the OG White Chocolate without a doubt in my mind.
Super interview. Thanks Rex. Big hands -- match MJ up with Dr. J!
His absolutely right.His thumb was
In a unique position made him even
More unguarded at every post
I loved that team! Rex, Curry, Bogues... new franchise. So much fun to watch!
Rex was a baller
I havent heard the name Tom Tolbert in 30 years!
Excellent interview!
Some of the reasons why Steph ended up being the best in the car and the world is because he was riding in the car with Dell Mugsy and Rex as a 3 yr old
Now all the former UK players play at this state of the art gym owned by teashon prince in downtown Lexington.
I love the last 2mins what Rex told us about Steve as a 'homie' of MJ lol, that's why We've been watching different games for decades unfortunately we got no clue until rex spills this out
I hope everyone watching this knows how truly great Mr. Rex Chapman was as a player - athletic, quick release.
Sometimes I look back and think about players’ styles in the era they played and wonder how great they would be in todays era.
I truly believe lots of players were restricted because of the “system” compared to how the game is played today. Especially the freedom to shoot the 3. Never thought I see the day where Centers ( and 3s and 4s) shooting 3s would be the norm.
I think about Mr. Chapman, Chris Jackson, Nick Van Excel, etc to name a few
Nice interview
So basically Jordan influenced Rex to golf and gamble. Jordan also influenced Tiger Woods to gamble.
I never knew this about Rex, much respect to him!
Rex is one of the best persons anyone could ever meet. He deserved so much better than what he got at UK.
14:04 "Suck it back..." ayooo pause. That was CRAZYYYY
Great show
Rex would be Step Curry he played in todays Game .. Pure Shooter
Rex Chapman was one of those guys really liked back in the day
The former owner of the Hornets George Shinn, was also a member of the KKK. A lot of people didn't know that
And?
@@Destroyer-Grizzly-BIH
And he was known to say some racist shit. Google him
@@CraigSmithIIand?
@@kidthumpfacts. Who cares. Get over the victim Olympics already. It's played and tiresome.
Don't cry about someone saying someone was in the kkk
It’s crazy how people only remember this guy for having a decent game against Jordan..💯🤷🏿♂️
Compelling story. King Rex is that guy!
6:12
This reminds me of a dbz moment.
Steph: baby gohan
Rex: piccolo
Dell: goku
Mugsy: krillin
If anyone who knows gohan became the strongest during the cell saga and was the strongest during the first part of the saiyan saga where goku met his brother raditz
I seen Rex give MJ buckets one game he was goin off. I cant remember if he was playing for the Hornets or the Heat but he wanted smoke. They might even were about to throw hands that game if i remember correctly. Ya kno the kinda basketball that Aries Spears edges off of💀💀
the Heat. man was cooking Mike
The heat
Rex I loved it when you were in Miami Heat’ sucks you loved DC so much but I get it.
Rajon rondo has big hands as well ✋️ an advantage not talked about as it should
9:30 Idle time is the devil’s playground!!!
Damn, I thought that was junior soprano!
😂😂😂😂😂
You’re fleexiiiing
@@JoeD-gy7cx “Will you let the man tee off! You yap worse than six barbers 💈 “
@@pboissie south of the border, where the tuna fish play 🍣
@@JoeD-gy7cx “take it easy, were not makin a western here”
Everytime he says “okay” you take a shot of whiskey
Man I’m not gone wake up 😂😂
You also can tell that these players im the NBA today dont have the large hands to palm to ball for vicious tomahawk dunks. Anthony Edwards just did a dunk this week that people are saying is a all time classic. The ball slipped out of his hands and he barely threw it in the goal! It was impressive but........
Vlad interviewing Chapman because he can't get Jordan??
Just so we are clear Christianity isnt anti interracial relationships
I remember going to school in Charlotte. When Rex came there it was like getting a Lebron 😂 meaning he was the 1st big name for the city.
yeah rex was popular ball player back then mane…tha mane could hoop tho
13:17 into this clip is where the “Jordan hands” thing starts.
Good interview thanks vlad 😂
MJ hands were great but MJ would take it personal if you think his hands made him Goat.
I remember always picking him or Mark Price way back in the day, while gaming, to give me the best chance to hit those 3 balls.
That tittle is wild NoDiddy
Nah title wild definitely a NoDiddy
Take that take that take that NoDiddy!
'No Diddy'...😂😂im sry bro but im runnin wit that. Just took the place of 'no homo'
NoDiddy is gonna be a thing. Trademark that!!
There seemed to be more hype on Rex coming out of high school than any other player I could remember (at the time in Kentucky). 'Seems at one point some outlet had reported Rex had narrowed his school choices to Louisville, UK, and Kentucky Wesleyan. The folk I know figured "Wesleyan" was mentioned only to help his Dad's potential recruiting, and I thought, "No way would such a highly rated white kid out of Kentucky not play for UK, but then I had a friend that would go to Crawford Gym and pick up on the recruiting buzz and Brian would come into work all excited saying .... I THINK WE (as in U of L) GOT REX !!! 'Wanted him bad at Louisville. He was a phenomenal player and got to watch him live in his first season with Charlotte.
Booger said the same thing about Jordan. Said he stole one of his no look passes like “gimme tht young fella”
Phil Jackson said MJ’s hands were what separated him from Kobe. I never gave it much thought until a few years ago. I probably witnessed at least 50 games in person at the Stadium between 1988 and 1992 (shared season tickets) and it was something. Massive disappointment against the Pistons and euphoria at Game 2 in the ‘91 finals (“a spectacular move!”) and Games 1 (the shrug) and 6 (15 point deficit at the start of the 4th quarter) in ‘92. I could have kept a single ticket but what the hell do you do with that?
Wow never knew Rex and MJ was soo close
Yup, MJ was pretty close with everyone who had the same agent as he did. That’s why he was close with Mutombo as well. And he was real cool with you if you golfed and gambled.
Is that a sideway pic of Kentucky on Rex's shirt?
great great content
This is the second time I stumble in a former legend stating that about jordan's hands
And it is so true, enlightining actually. As a former baller myself that was immediately so clear. That's one of the main reasons he stood up that taller than any other guard, past and present, especially when it comes to dribble,drive and finishing in traffic. Those hands for example set him a league apart from Kobe. Kobe has been one of the best guards ever, probably the 2nd best ever. And his game was so much more frantic and on the edge if compared to Michael's. And that's because his hands were 'just' regular sized hands for a man his size. But Kobe was better at shooting from long...not by coincidence.
Also very interesting and nonetheless true the mention about how he was not so great at shooting the basketball in the early years, and yet he became so unstoppable from mid range and hitting it also from long range on a good day, setting an nba finals record (now long gone).
Another thing about those blanket size hands is how good Michael used to play golf with those hands. If you have large hands and play golf you know what I'm talking about.
Always loved Rex, as a player and as a human. So straight and true to himself no matter what. I remember a legendary long range shooting duel between him and Drazen Petrovic in a friendly (not totally friendly) game between UK and Yugoslavia. Tears.
The one play that stands out and shows just how big Jordan’s hands are is against the hawks in the playoffs. I believe pippen saved a ball going out of bounds and he threw the ball kinda too high and jordan caught it with one hand. That play is almost cartoonish.
There's even crazier ones than that. His one handed rebounds and palming a shot out of the air, which is one of the craziest block attempts I've seen. It was called for goal tending but just the fact that he palmed the shot out of the air is ridiculous. I've not seen any other player do some of the things he did.
"I was the youngest player in the NBA, by a lot"... He was 21 his first year in the NBA... there were 32 players 22 and younger that year in the league.
Rex Chapman looking more like Michael Rooker.
Rex was a bucket at the 3pt line
Rex Chapman was a really good dunker
1996 Charlote Hornets starter jacket. Classic
Best
and Miami Dolphins 😅
Im here in Lexington. Everybody is telling me Rick P. Is coming back. Is that true?
13:15 here comes the big hands