NBA-turned-Team USA volleyball player Chase Budinger wins Olympics debut

July 30 (UPI) -- Chase Budinger , who spent seven seasons in the NBA, earned a victory in his Olympics debut, teaming up with beach volleyball partner Miles Evans to beat France's Youssef Krou and Arnuad Gauthier-Rat in Paris.

Budinger and Evans earned the two-set victory Monday on the sands of a court constructed under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower . They needed just 51:09 to earn the 21-14, 21-11 triumph.

"I was trying to explain how we are going to breathe and how we are going to look at each other, use each other to slow the game down, calm ourselves, calm the nerves as much as possible," Budinger told NBC.

Budinger, who stands at 6-foot-7, logged three service points and hit 15 of his 20 serves in play, He also earned six attack points. Evans, who stands at 6-foot-4, hit 17 of his 20 serves in play and totaled 13 attack points.

Miles Evans and Chase Budinger are off to a hot start in beach volleyball. #ParisOlympics

: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/PenOlUtQgH — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024

Evans and Budinger will continue their run against 6-foot-6 Stefan Boermans and 6-foot-2 Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands in their next match at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday in Paris.

Budinger and Evans are ranked No. 13 in the world rankings . Boermans and de Groot are ranked No. 4. Krou and Gauthier-Rat are the No. 36 duo in the world.

Budinger, 36, was a second-round pick out of Arizona in the 2009 NBA Draft. He spent his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets. He went on to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.0 rebounds over 407 appearances in the league.

He retired from basketball in 2017 and made his AVP tour beach volleyball debut in 2018. Budinger and Evans qualified for the Paris Olympics in June.