Chase Budinger used to play in the NBA. Now, he's an Olympian in beach volleyball.
Former NBA player Chase Budinger is headed to the 2024 Summer Olympics, but he won't need his basketball shoes to compete — he will be representing Team USA in beach volleyball.
The seven-year NBA veteran qualified for the Paris Games alongside playing partner Miles Evans on Wednesday. The pair are ranked 13th in the world and are going to the Olympics because they are the No. 2 U.S. team, behind the fifth-ranked team of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh. Budinger and Evans secured their spot after the No. 3-ranked U.S. team of Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb lost in the first round of the last qualifying tournament in the Czech Republic.
An Instagram video showed Budinger and Evans when they found out they qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Chase Budinger NBA career
Qualifying for the Olympics is a remarkable achievement for the 36-year-old given he spent the majority of his professional career on the hardwood.
Budinger played basketball and volleyball in high school, but chose to play basketball at Arizona. He was a highly-touted recruit, and was co-MVP of the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game alongside Kevin Durant. Budinger played three seasons for the Wildcats and was named the 2007 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and earned first team all-Pac-10 honors in 2009.
Budinger was picked by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft, but was traded to the Houston Rockets that same night. He played three seasons with the Rockets, where he had the better years of his career, before he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He would also play for the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns and played his last NBA game in 2016. He finished his career having played 407 games, averaging 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.
Chase Budinger's transition to beach volleyball
Budinger was a volleyball standout at La Costa Canyon High School in California. He led his team to three volleyball state championships and was named National High School Player of the Year by Volleyball Magazine. He then joined the professional beach volleyball AVP tour in 2018.
"That was always the plan," Budinger told the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2019. "To play beach volleyball when basketball was over."
Budinger would have five different partners in his volleyball career before he began teaming up with Evans in 2023, and they've risen up the world rankings all the way to a spot in the Olympics, something he said he wanted to achieve nearly five years ago.
"Hopefully, to represent the United States in the Olympics," he said. "The goal is to become the best in the world."
When the Games begin, Budinger will become the first athlete to play in an NBA regular season game and Olympic beach volleyball, according to NBC Sports.