Who is Chase Budinger? Former NBA player starring in beach volleyball at 2024 Paris Olympics

The second act of Chase Budinger 's athletic career is becoming more successful than his first.

That says a lot about a player who reached the highest stage in basketball in the world, playing in the NBA for seven seasons and collecting roughly $18 million in earnings for his career. Now, he's generating news for his abilities in beach volleyball.

Budinger, 36, and beach volleyball partner Miles Evans disposed of France's Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in straight sets (21-14, 21-11) on Monday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium. It was their opening match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament and, indeed, their Olympic debut .

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Budinger played basketball and volleyball at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California, before deciding to focus on basketball in college. In the 2006 recruiting class, he was rated a five-star recruit and was even named the co-MVP of McDonald's All-American Game with future NBA superstar Kevin Durant .

But now, after Budinger's appearance in more than 400 NBA games, he is in the second act of his career. Here's everything you need to know about Budinger's career in the NBA and his path to beach volleyball:

Chase Budinger beach volleyball career

Budinger told USA TODAY that he played beach volleyball with NBA stars Steve Nash and Blake Griffin during the NBA offseason during his playing career, which took place from 2009-16. He said he always planned on pursuing volleyball again after his basketball career concluded.

Following a seven-year NBA career, Budinger played one season overseas in the EuroLeague in 2016-17. However, in 2017, he decided to retire from basketball and focus on playing volleyball, joining the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) in June 2018.

Two years ago, Budinger and Evans bonded over coffee and decided to partner after a conversation about both wanting to qualify for the Olympics. Their relationship has since flourished, and they are one of two U.S. teams in the Olympics on the men's side.

They are the No. 13-ranked beach volleyball pairing in the world, per Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).

REQUIRED READING: How beach volleyballer Chase Budinger plans to ‘shock the world’ at Paris Olympics

Chase Budinger college

Budinger led La Costa Canyon to the CIF San Diego Section basketball title in 2006 and three volleyball state championships. In his senior season, Volleyball Magazine named Budinger the National Player of the Year. He was also named an All-American in basketball and finished as the runner-up in the 2006 McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Contest.

USC and UCLA offered Budinger scholarships to play volleyball and basketball in college. However, he opted to focus on basketball, playing for Arizona as a five-star recruit, according to his 247Sports Composite profile.

Budinger appeared in 100 games for Arizona from 2006-09 in three seasons. He averaged 17 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 52% shooting and 38% from 3-point range. Budinger entered the NBA draft following the 2008-09 season in which he averaged 18 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 48% overall shooting and 39.9% from 3-point range.

Chase Budinger NBA stats

The Detroit Pistons drafted Budinger in the second round of the 2009 NBA draft and subsequently traded him to the Houston Rockets on draft night. He played in Houston from 2009-12 before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2012 NBA draft.

He spent three seasons (2012-15) with the Timberwolves and was traded to the Indiana Pacers on July 12, 2015. He played one year in Indiana before he was waived in March 2015. Budinger then signed with the Phoenix Suns near the end of the 2016 season, before playing in the 2016-17 preseason with the Brooklyn Nets.

He played the 2016-17 season overseas with the Baskonia in the EuroLeague.

Budinger averaged 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game for his NBA career, with 43% shooting and 35% shooting from 3-point range across 407 career games, including 50 starts.

Chase Budinger dunk contest

One notable aspect of Budinger's NBA career came in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where he had an impressive showing and ultimately finished as runner-up to Jeremy Evans.

Chase Budinger family

Budinger's parents are Duncan and Māra Budinger. Andrejs Eglītis ― Chase Budinger's maternal grandfather ― moved to the United States shortly after World War 2 from Latvia and is the author of the book "A Man From Latvia."

Budinger has an older sister, Brittanie , and brother, Duncan , who also play volleyball.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Chase Budinger? Former NBA player starring in beach volleyball at 2024 Paris Olympics