Former NBA player Chase Budinger makes history on the Olympic beach volleyball court

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Chase Budinger, who played seven seasons in the NBA, made his Olympic debut on Monday. But it wasn’t on the basketball court, but on the beach.

Budinger and his partner, Miles Evans, easily defeated their French opponents (21-14, 21-11) under the Eiffel Tower to win the U.S. team’s opening match at the Olympic beach volleyball tournament.

The American duo arrived in Paris ranked 13th in the world, having emerged victorious from their first match in just over 30 minutes.

“It definitely lived up to expectations, man,” Budinger said after the win. “I felt like it went by too fast. I felt like there were times where I should have enjoyed the view a little bit more.”

The two will get at least two more chances to play, on Tuesday and Friday. They also received words of encouragement from members of the U.S. men’s basketball team, including a surprise meeting with LeBron James.

And Budinger, 36 and 7-foot-1, can now add another honorable mention to his long list: He is the first athlete ever to play in both an NBA regular season game and an Olympic beach volleyball game.

This is how he did it:

From the basketball bench to the volleyball beach

Budinger grew up playing volleyball and basketball and played all four years of high school in Carlsbad, California, and at the collegiate level in both sports.

He was offered scholarships to play both volleyball and basketball at USC and UCLA, but ultimately decided to play basketball at the University of Arizona. At the time, he was considered the most decorated player to attend their program.

After three seasons at the college level and 100 games in which he averaged 17 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists, Budinger declared for the 2009 NBA Draft.

Budinger was selected 44th overall by the Detroit Pistons, who traded him to the Houston Rockets that same night. He played three seasons there before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012, where he dealt with a series of injuries. He started the 2015-16 season with the Indiana Pacers and finished it with the Phoenix Suns after being waived.

Budinger played his last NBA game in April 2016, finishing the year playing for Baskonia in Spain. He officially retired from basketball in 2017.

Like many retirees, he dreamed of the beach. Beach volleyball, that is.

Budinger joined the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) in 2018 and won Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player titles in quick succession. He won his first AVP title in 2019.

Budinger and his various playing partners won a series of silver and gold medals on the professional beach volleyball circuit in the years that followed.

He has been playing with Evans since 2013 and in June they qualified for the US Olympic men’s team.

On Monday, Budinger recounted how his nerves got the better of him during his first NBA game in 2009: “I was 0-for-2 (from the 3-point line), had two turnovers and one of my shots was an airball.”

This time it looked very different.

“It took me six years,” Budinger added, according to the Associated Press. “It took me a long time to finally achieve this goal and I’m here to compete in the Olympics. And there’s no better feeling.”

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