Chase Budinger is taking his athleticism from the professional basketball court to the beach for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 6-foot-7 former NBA forward will make history at the Olympics this month as the first person to have played in both an NBA regular season game and in Olympic beach volleyball.
In an interview with TODAY.com, Budinger, 36, says it makes him “very proud” to hear that record-breaking statistic.
“It just really shows my commitment and my dedication and my hard work to both sports,” he says of his basketball and volleyball careers. “I give a lot of credit to my team.”
Budinger was quick to call out his volleyball coach and his wife, Jessica Budinger, who he says “had to sacrifice so much” while he traveled to compete the past two years.
“Playing in all these tournaments, while she just stayed home with the kid, taking care of the house, taking care of the homefront — and being so supportive as well, doing it all, making sure I have everything that I need to kind of go for my dream,” he says.
When Budinger was a student at La Costa Canyon High School in Southern California, he was playing both basketball and volleyball. At that time, however, he “always enjoyed basketball more,” which led him to play at the University of Arizona.
Budinger says competing in two sports helped him as an athlete, saying he “couldn’t have been the basketball player I was without volleyball.”
“From all the footwork that I’ve learned from volleyball, the coordination, the jumping ability, the vision that you have to have in volleyball — all that stuff just really helped me on the basketball court,” he explains.
“There was definitely some summers where I played a little bit more volleyball, and then when I came back to basketball, I realized how much more athletic I was,” Budinger adds.
Budinger played basketball at Arizona for three years before being drafted to the NBA in 2009. Budinger spent seven years in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns.
Even as he competed at the highest level in basketball nationally, Budinger tells TODAY.com that the idea of transitioning to volleyball was “always in the back of my mind.”
“I’ve always wanted to play beach volleyball after I was done with basketball,” Budinger says. “And I only say that if my body was healthy enough and was able to do it.”
He explains that an appealing aspect of volleyball is the ages of the athletes. While most basketball players retire in their 30s, he says some volleyball players could be just hitting their peak, and continuing into their 40s.
“Whenever my career was done with basketball, I knew that I could jump over and try beach volleyball and see how high of a level I can play it out,” Budinger says.
After his career with the NBA, Budinger played with Spain’s Baskonia in the EuroLeague from 2016-2017. The following year, he began competing in beach volleyball, with his eyes immediately set on the Olympics.
“When I finally did decide to switch over to beach volleyball, it was basically my main goal to go for it and to try to make the Olympics,” he says. “I didn’t know which Olympics I was talking about, I just wanted to make the Olympics.”
As he gears up to compete in the Paris Games with volleyball partner Miles Evans, Budinger says he has “a little more motivation … to work a little bit harder to really just go for it.”
After achieving his and Evans’ first goal of making it to the Olympics, he says they’re now looking to take home a medal for Team USA.
Budinger says hitting the sand to represent the country in Paris “means everything.”
“It’s really cool to see all the support that’s been thrown our way, how much people are behind us,” he says. “It just makes me so proud to represent the United States and to do it on the biggest stage.”
The Olympic support has reached all the way to his California neighborhood. Budinger says neighbors hung posters and banners in front of their homes to surprise him and his wife.
For those planning to tune in to watch Team USA compete in beach volleyball, Budinger offers a reminder of just how challenging the sport truly is.
“Especially at the highest level, so watching the Olympics, we make it look so easy. And to the average fan, they think that they could do it, but the sport is really difficult,” he says. “And (as) someone who’s come from multiple sports, learning how to play at the highest level — it’s taken me years to to achieve where I’m at.”
He adds, “This sport is so, so fun (and) difficult all at the same time.”
Beach volleyball matches at the Paris Games will run July 27-Aug. 10.
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