CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — Everyone knows there’s a link connecting the Hornets of today, to the ones that paved the way.
However you’d be greatly mistaken assuming it was only the Currys with guard Seth and his dad Dell.
“No question,” said former Hornets guard Rex Chapman. “He lives and dies with every whistle.”
Years ago, they said that about Rex. Now 37 years after he was the team’s first-ever draft pick, he’s saying the same thing about his son.
“I’m just thrilled that Zeke is there and he is doing his thing,” Rex said. “He’s got a really good basketball mind.”
But unlike his dad, Zeke isn’t making his mark by shooting the basketball. Instead, the 32-year-old is doing it behind the scenes as the Hornets head video coordinator.
“Being around basketball from a young age, (I) saw maybe I wasn’t going to play at the level that my dad did and was like, ‘What else can I do to stay around the game and be around something I’m passionate about?'” Zeke recalled thinking.
The answer was coaching.
However, Zeke knew he’d have to work for it. The name Chapman was an “in” but it was something he never wanted to use.
“There are times, he’ll talk to people I know,” Rex explained. “I’ll say, ‘Did you tell them I said, ‘Hi’? He’ll say, ‘No, I didn’t bring you up.'”
Rather than take offense, dad can only smile. Much like he was in his day, Zeke is stubborn. He wants to do it his way, and so far he has, navigating through positions at Brooklyn and then Phoenix before finally landing here in Charlotte. In a way, it was like his past caught up to him.
“It was surreal,” Zeke said, remembering the first time walking down the halls of the Spectrum Center and passing by a picture of his dad. “Definitely, it was funny at first because if you notice a lot of the pictures, guys making hustle plays, defensive plays, and of course it’s my dad getting his shot up.”
But that was then.
These days at Spectrum, there’s a new Chapman letting it fly.
“I’m here because I am good at my job and I have the skills to be successful,” he said proudly.
You’ll get no argument from dad, who’s proud the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.