The second act of Chase Budinger’s athletic career is shaping up to be more successful than the first.
That says a lot about a player who has reached the pinnacle of basketball history, playing seven seasons in the NBA and earning roughly $18 million in career prize money, and now he’s making waves for his beach volleyball prowess.
The 36-year-old Budinger and beach volleyball partner Miles Evans defeated France’s Youssef Crews and Arnaud Gautier-Latte in straight sets (21-14, 21-11) at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on Monday at the 2024 Paris Olympics, their opening match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament and indeed their Olympic debut.
Paris 2024 Olympics:Read the full story from USA TODAY here
Budinger played basketball and volleyball at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California, before deciding to focus on basketball in college. She was rated a five-star recruit during her 2006 recruiting season and was named co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game along with future NBA superstar Kevin Durant.
2024 Olympic Medals: Who is leading the medal count? Let’s track the medals in each sport to find out.
But Budinger has played more than 400 NBA games and is in the second act of his career. Here’s everything you need to know about Budinger’s NBA career and his path to beach volleyball.
Chase Budinger’s Beach Volleyball Career
Budinger told USA Today that he played beach volleyball with NBA stars Steve Nash and Blake Griffin during the NBA offseason during his playing days from 2009 to 2016, and that he had always planned to return to volleyball after his basketball career ended.
After a seven-year career in the NBA, Budinger played one season overseas in the EuroLeague in 2016-17, but decided to retire from basketball in 2017 to focus on volleyball, joining the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) in June 2018.
Two years ago, Budinger and Evans met over coffee, talked each other into competing in the Olympics, and decided to partner up. Since then, their relationship has blossomed, and they are one of two U.S. teams competing in the men’s Olympic Games.
According to the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), they are the 13th ranked beach volleyball pair in the world.
Must read:Beach volleyball player Chase Budinger plans to ‘shock the world’ at the Paris Olympics
Chase Budinger University
Budinger led La Costa Canyon to the 2006 CIF San Diego Section basketball title and three volleyball state championships. In her senior season, Volleyball Magazine named Budinger its Player of the Year. She was also named an All-American in basketball and was the runner-up in the 2006 McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk Contest.
USC and UCLA offered Budinger scholarships to play volleyball and basketball in college, but he chose to focus on basketball and played at Arizona as a five-star recruit, according to his 247Sports Composite profile.
Budinger played in 100 games over three seasons with Arizona from 2006-09, averaging 17 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 52% from the field and 38% from the 3-point field. Budinger entered the NBA draft following the 2008-09 season in which he averaged 18 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists while shooting 48% from the field and 39.9% from the 3-point field.
Chase Budinger’s NBA stats
The Detroit Pistons selected Budinger in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft and traded him to the Houston Rockets on draft day. Budinger played for Houston from 2009 to 2012, after which he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2012 NBA Draft.
He spent three seasons (2012-15) with the Timberwolves before being traded to the Indiana Pacers on July 12, 2015. He played one year with Indiana before being released in March 2015. Budinger then signed with the Phoenix Suns near the end of the 2016 season and played for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2016-17 preseason.
He played overseas for Baskonia in the EuroLeague in the 2016-17 season.
In 407 NBA games (50 starts), Budinger averaged 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 43 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point range.
Chase Budinger Dunk Contest
One notable aspect of Budinger’s NBA career was his impressive showing in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, ultimately finishing runner-up to Jeremy Evans.
Chase Budinger Family
Badinger’s parents are Duncan and Marla Badinger. Chase Badinger’s maternal grandfather, Andrejs Eglitis, immigrated to the United States from Latvia shortly after World War II and is the author of the book “The Man from Latvia.”
Budinger has an older sister, Brittany, and a younger brother, Duncan, who also play volleyball.
We occasionally recommend products and services you might find interesting. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive an affiliate commission. USA TODAY Network newsrooms are independently operated and have no influence on the content of our coverage.
