Rex Andrew Walters (born March 12, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously, he was the associate head coach at Wake Forest University under Danny Manning. Prior to Wake Forest, he spent time at Nevada under Eric Musselman. He has made head coaching stops with the Grand Rapid Drive (NBA G-League), the University of San Francisco and Florida Atlantic University.
Walters pedigree for coaching began as a player, receiving tutelage from some of the game legendary coaches. Roy Williams at the University of Kansas and the NBA's Chuck Daly, Larry Brown and Pat Riley all mentored Walters during his years as a player. Walters played college basketball at Northwestern and Kansas. In 1993, he received a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from the University of Kansas. After Kansas, he played professionally for ten years, including seven seasons in the NBA from 1993 to 2000. Walters has been active on Apple Podcasts hosting his own show Real Talk Basketball with Rex Walters.
Biography
Born in Omaha, Nebraska on March 12, 1970, Walters played high school basketball at Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California, but graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, California. Walters is biracial; his mother is Japanese and his father is white. In an interview with Rick Quan, Rex Walters responded to the question of feeling that he was a pioneer for Asian Americans. He responded: "I consider myself Japanese-American. I just don't look it. People are always surprised. Now we got a guy like Jeremy Lin breaking barriers, I'd like to think I played a small part in that". He later added, "People ask me who I am? What I am? I am a Japanese-American, I take great pride in that." Walters is known as a hard working, selfless person with a great passion to motivate and lead others. Walters daughter, Addison Walters is currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves staff serving as a Video Associate.
Playing career (College) (1988-1990) Walters played at Northwestern University (1988-1990) and was All Big 10 honorable mention leading the team in scoring (17.6PPG, 3FG% - 47.3%, FT% - 79.4%, 125 assists).
(1990-1993) In 1990, he transferred to Kansas, playing two seasons. In 68 starts under Roy Williams, he averaged 15.6 points per game, leading the Jayhawks in scoring during both his junior and senior campaigns. KU combined to go 56-12 overall in 1991-92 and 1992–93, winning back-to-back Big Eight titles and reaching the 1993 Final Four. Walters was named to the All-Big Eight team both seasons and was Big Eight Male Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1993. As a junior, Walters averaged 16.0 points per game as the Jayhawks went 27–5. In his senior season, KU had a record of 29–7, with Walters scoring at a clip of 15.3 points per game.
Walters was an outstanding scorer from all areas of the court at Kansas, shooting nearly 51% from the field, 42% from three-point range and 85% at the free throw line. His college career originally began at Northwestern University, where he earned honorable mention from the Big 10 in 1989-90 after leading the team in scoring (17.6 ppg), three-point shooting (47.3%), free throw shooting (79.4%) and assists (125) as a sophomore. The 6'4" (1.93 m) shooting guard was selected by the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets with the 16th pick in the 1993 NBA draft.
Playing career (Professional) Walters’ professional playing career spanned 10 seasons, including seven seasons in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets (1993–95), Philadelphia 76ers (1995-98) and Miami Heat (1998-2000). He also had stints with Baloncesto Leon (2000), the Kansas City Knights (2000–01; 2002–03) and CB Gran Canaria (2001-02).
The New Jersey Nets selected Walters with the 16th overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft. As a rookie, Walters led the team in field goal percentage (.522) and hit 14 of 28 three-point attempts. His role expanded in 1994-95 and his statistics improved in nearly every category.