Ex-NBA Player Chase Budinger Is Living Out His Olympic Dreams—in Beach Volleyball

Jamie Lisanti | Jun 24, 2024

Since 2021, Budinger has dedicated his training to qualifying for the Olympics in beach volleyball. / Quinn Harris/Getty Images

Chase Budinger always knew he would find his way back to volleyball.

The 36-year-old former NBA player and his partner, 34-year-old Miles Evans, are officially headed to the Olympics this summer after nabbing the second and final U.S. men’s beach volleyball spot in Paris. It’s an achievement for Budinger that comes nearly seven years after he ended his pro basketball career, which included time with four NBA teams from 2009–‘16 and a short stint overseas with Baskonia in Spain. 

“Most guys, when they finish a sport, they’re kind of confused, or they’re kind of lost for the next journey or whatever life takes them next,” he said on the Sandcast volleyball podcast in 2018. “I was lucky enough to just transition into a different sport immediately and play at the highest level.”

In Paris, Budinger will become the first athlete to play both an NBA regular season game and Olympic beach volleyball.

A two-sport athlete at La Costa Canyon High School in Encinitas, Calif., Budinger was a five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American in basketball, earning co-MVP honors in the all-star game with Kevin Durant. In volleyball, he won three state championships and, as a senior, was named Mizuno National Player of the Year by Volleyball Magazine in 2006.

When it came time to pick a college, he narrowed down his choices to USC, UCLA and Arizona. The Los Angeles schools offered him scholarships to play both basketball and volleyball; Arizona had a robust basketball program but didn’t have a men’s team for volleyball. In the end, he joined the Wildcats, naming coach Lute Olson as the driving factor in his decision. 

“Coach Olson was such a legendary figure in college basketball, and the opportunity to play under his guidance was something I couldn't pass up,” Budinger says.

After three seasons in college, he was selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA draft. (The Pistons took him 44th but later that night, he was traded to the Rockets.) A 6'7" forward, Budinger played in the NBA for seven years, with the Rockets, then the Timberwolves, Pacers and Suns. 

“My plan was to always come back to beach volleyball,” says Budinger. “It was always a sport I loved, and I always had the goal of pursuing the Olympics in the back of my mind for when I retired from basketball.”

Budinger's NBA stops included one season with the Pacers in 2015–16. / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Despite his focus on his basketball career, Budinger still found time during the NBA offseason to practice and play 4-on-4 beach volleyball with friends a few times a week. He says the movement on the sand was great cross-training because it provided a less taxing type of conditioning, compared to running and pounding on the hardwood. Former NBA players Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton are part of the crew he still plays with today, Budinger says. 

After a half of a season overseas with Baskonia in Spain, Budinger returned home and retired from basketball, officially making the switch to beach volleyball in 2018. 

Budinger and Evans qualified for Paris after another U.S. team failed to earn enough points in the qualifying tournament. / Essene Hernandez/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Budinger had five different partners before teaming up with Evans in 2023. The pair has surged ahead of Paris, now ranked second in the U.S. and 13th in the world.

“Since [Tokyo] I’ve been dedicated to my craft,” he says. “I worked tirelessly with my partner, Miles Evans, to refine our game and build our synergy on the court. Together we really committed to making a run at the 2024 games.”

Budinger’s opportunity to compete in the Summer Games in the midst of a second professional sports career at age 36 is a remarkable, rare feat—one only made possible by the magic of the Olympics.