Chase Budinger's journey from the NBA to beach volleyball at Paris 2024

After an eight-year professional basketball career, former NBA player Chase Budinger left the hardwood and leapt into the sand, committing to becoming a full-time, professional beach volleyball player.

Six years later, this decision and his hard work were rewarded with a trip to Paris 2024 where he, alongside teammate Miles Evans, is aiming to help the United States win its first Olympic beach volleyball gold medal since Beijing 2008.

Chase Budinger’s athletic background

Growing up in Encinitas, California, Budinger was a two-sport star at La Costa Canyon High School, shining on both the basketball and volleyball court. As a basketball player, he helped lead his program to the 2006 CIF San Diego Section title as a senior. Budinger’s strong season earned him the title of California’s "Mr. Basketball" and a spot on the All-American team where his leaping ability was on full display as he finished second in the 2006 All-American Slam Dunk Contest.

While his basketball accolades were notable, Budinger’s volleyball feats were arguably more impressive. He helped lead La Costa Canyon to three state championships and was named National Player of the Year in 2005 by Volleyball Magazine.

Following Budinger’s senior year, he was ranked as the No. 4 basketball player in the country and the No. 2 small forward in his class. He was a five-star recruit, with offers from programs such as USC and UCLA, to play both sports collegiately. Ultimately, he chose to attend the University of Arizona solely for basketball.

Averaging 15.6 points per game as a freshman, Budinger earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors. He briefly considered entering the 2007 NBA draft but chose to remain in school. Over the next two seasons, he would earn Third-team All-Pac-10 and First-team All-Pac-10 respectively before once again declaring for the draft. As a junior, Budinger averaged 18 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

He was then selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 44th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft and traded to the Houston Rockets on draft night.

Chase Budinger’s professional basketball career

Budinger would spend the first three seasons of his NBA career in Houston, averaging 8.9 points and appearing in 74 games as a rookie. In his second season, he tallied a career-high 22 games started, bumping his scoring average up to 9.8 points per game. Budinger’s third professional season saw him reach his career-high, single-game scoring output when he dropped 35 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves including shooting 4-8 shooting from long range.

He also competed in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, putting on a show with a variety of unique dunks including a blindfolded reverse dunk though he ultimately finished in second place behind Jeremy Evans.

Budinger spent the next three seasons, from 2012-2015, playing for the Timberwolves before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. He only played 27 games for Indiana prior to being waived and joining the Phoenix Suns, where he appeared in 17 games.

Phoenix was the last stop of Budinger’s NBA career, taking his talents to Spain the following season. Playing for Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia in the EuroLeague, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Chase Budinger’s transition to volleyball

Following his season with Baskonia, Budinger decided to hang up his basketball shoes and pursue professional beach volleyball. In 2018, he made his Association of Volleyball Professionals debut alongside teammate Sean Rosenthal, eventually being named both Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player. The following year, now playing alongside Casey Patterson, Budinger won his first AVP title in Hermosa.

"Most guys, when they finish a sport, they're kind of confused, or they're kind of lost for the next journey," 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 2021, Budinger competed in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour circuit in Rwanda, finishing second with his partner Troy Field. A year later, Budinger and Field finished second once again in the 2022 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in the Maldives. After a few more top-three finishes, Budinger and his Paris 2024 teammate Evans, won the 2023 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour title in People's Republic of China.

"From our very first meeting, we wanted to start this journey together," Budinger said of his partner in an interview with NBC Sports. "We decided to put everything into this. Let's work as hard as we can. Let's find the right coach. Let's take this two-year period and see what could happen. He was all in for it. And we just started working from day one."

The win in China helped propel the duo up the United States rankings, reaching second in May of 2024. In June, the duo’s competition for a spot in Paris, Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb, lost in the first round of the last qualifying tournament in Czechia which secured Budinger and Evan’s spot at the Games.

“Once I decided to start my next career, my main focus — my main goal — was the Olympics,” Budinger said in an interview with the Associated Press. “I’ve always said it from Day 1: This is it. This is the goal. This is the highest standard that you could get.”

Chase Budinger at Paris 2024

When the Games begin in Paris, Budinger will become the first and only person to play a regular-season game in the NBA and Olympic beach volleyball.

However, he is not the first person to play both NBA basketball and Olympic volleyball, as Keith Erickson played on the 1964 U.S. men’s indoor volleyball team and then spent 12 seasons in the NBA. This included winning a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972.

“It's incredible. Just the hard work and dedication we've had over the last few years to finally be representing the USA at the Olympics is going to be just an unreal feeling. And I'm just really excited about it,” Budinger said.

Men’s beach volleyball at Paris 2024 will begin on 27 July and run through 10 August.