Chase Budinger’s second act has begun.
The previous NBA participant kicked off his first Olympics seaside volleyball match with a win alongside teammate Miles Evans on Monday.
The pair beat the French duo of Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Youssef Krou in two units, 21-14, 21-11 within the Pool F match.
His basketball roots — which embody seven NBA seasons — have been evident within the match, making the blocked pictures and spikes look simple together with his 6-foot-7 body.
Budinger, 36, averaged 7.9 factors and three rebounds per sport all through an NBA profession that was lower quick by accidents.
He was the No. 44 general choose within the 2009 draft by the Houston Rockets, who he performed for by means of 2012.
Budinger additionally had a stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2012-15) and cut up his closing stateside season between Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns in 2015-16 earlier than enjoying a yr in Spain.
In 2006, he was named co-MVP with Kevin Durant within the McDonald’s All-American sport.
Budinger isn’t new to the game — he lead California’s La Costa Canyon Excessive College to 3 titles — however opted to pursue basketball on the College of Arizona.
He linked with two-time seaside volleyball Olympian Sean Rosenthal after the NBA to kickstart the brand new chapter.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
“It’s been such a whirlwind,” Budinger advised The Ringer’s Mirin Fader relating to his profession change. “It’s loopy to consider as a result of the primary a part of my life was all basketball. And that’s the place my focus was for thus lengthy.”
He posted a video on Instagram of him greeting his outdated NBA associates together with Durant, Diana Taurasi, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James — all of whom Budinger stated motivated him to get to the identical Olympics.
“I’m gonna be paying consideration,” James stated within the video about tuning into Budinger’s Olympics run. “I’ll be watching!”
“Basketball is such a brotherhood,” Budinger advised Fader. “… It undoubtedly gave me some further motivation to attempt to make it to the Olympics this yr, figuring out that KD’s enjoying within the Olympics for his fourth time. And Steph [Curry] [is] enjoying. And that is LeBron’s final time. I can’t wait to go watch them and cheer them on.”
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Budinger and Evans will subsequent take the sand on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET towards the Netherlands’ Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot.
