Quick answer: In a November 16, 2023, interview on the Rich Roll Podcast, also used in a Recovery Podcast Shorts clip, Chris Herren describes a relapse during treatment, in his own account. After the host mentions "that Treatment Center where you lived for 11 months," Herren says, "When Heather gave birth to Drew I went home I relapsed I failed terribly and I went back completely broken." "They said get in the pot sink." "From 4:30 in the morning till 8 at night you're going to wash dishes for this community and there was 96 of us living in there." He "had no contact." "It was just me in the pot sink and that's when things started to turn for me a little bit," "because you know it's kind of like I let go." The next time he talked to Heather, he says, she was "pulling up with a two-month-old infant and my two children walking into Daytop to have a family meeting." Later he says, "when I celebrated 15 years the other day," and agrees it was "August one." "It wasn't easy." Those 15 years are as of that 2023 interview.
Clip: Recovery Podcast Shorts YouTube Short from the full source linked below.
The official YouTube title, uploaded November 16, 2023, about 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, is Against All Hope: Chris Herren on Addiction, Sobriety & Redemption | Rich Roll Podcast. The Short was uploaded November 14, 2026, to Recovery Podcast Shorts.
Basketball-Reference lists him as Chris Albert Herren, a point guard born September 27, 1975, in Fall River, Massachusetts, drafted 33rd by the Denver Nuggets in 1999 and later traded to the Boston Celtics. The Library of Congress heading is Herren, Chris, fuller name Christopher Albert, with the same birth date and place. Herren Talks says he founded the nonprofit Herren Project in 2011. RealNameOf does not yet have a live page for him.
"I went home I relapsed I failed terribly"
The 11-month stay is the host's framing; Herren does not repeat that length in the used lines. He names his wife, Heather, and their son, Drew, and describes going home after the birth, relapsing, and returning "completely broken." He does not date either event in this clip.
The pot sink
"They said get in the pot sink." The hours, in his telling, were "from 4:30 in the morning till 8 at night," washing dishes "for this community," "and there was 96 of us living in there." He describes people throwing "trays and dirty stuff through the window," and using "hoses" and "sinks" to spray dishes and "get them in the dishwasher."
"I had no contact," he says, "so I couldn't lie to my wife I couldn't promise my wife" and "I couldn't do anything." "It was just me in the pot sink and that's when things started to turn for me a little bit," "because you know it's kind of like I let go and I let her kind of come in." The transcript has "her"; this article does not turn that into a claim about who or what he meant. "The next time I talk to Heather," he says, "she was pulling up with a two-month-old infant and my two children walking into Daytop to have a family meeting." Daytop is the name he uses for the place.
"When I celebrated 15 years the other day"
Later in the same 2023 conversation, Herren says, "when I celebrated 15 years the other day." The host says, "that's right August one right," and Herren agrees. Then: "it wasn't it wasn't easy." As they discuss it, that date is August 1 in the year of the interview. This article does not convert that into a later total. The Herren Project states, "Chris has been sober since August 1, 2008," which lines up with 15 years as of August 1, 2023, discussed that November.
Related reading
- Tom Holland on Dry January, from an interview with Rich Roll
- Craig Ferguson on 35 years sober, and why it comes down to the first drink
- Steve-O on why recovery meant more than a longer stay in rehab
- Danny Trejo recalls the recovery meetings he resisted before becoming a counselor
- Real names of basketball players
- Real names of athletes
FAQ
What is Chris Herren's full name?
The Library of Congress lists Herren, Chris, with the fuller name Christopher Albert, born September 27, 1975, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Basketball-Reference lists him as Chris Albert Herren.
What does he say happened after his son's birth?
In his account, "When Heather gave birth to Drew I went home I relapsed I failed terribly and I went back completely broken."
What was the "pot sink"?
As he describes it, staff told him, "get in the pot sink," and he washed dishes "from 4:30 in the morning till 8 at night" for a community of "96 of us," with "no contact" with his family. He says that is "when things started to turn for me a little bit," and that he "let go."
How long does he say he had been sober?
In the November 16, 2023, interview, he says he "celebrated 15 years the other day," and agrees that date was "August one." Those 15 years are as of that interview.