Not everyone can make it big in the NBA. For every LeBron James, there are thousands of basketball players whose dreams end before they even get to the big stage.
While some manage to make it to the pros, not everyone can stay. The yearly influx of rookies and the pool of outstanding players waiting for a call-up makes staying in the world’s best basketball league a minor miracle and a testament to a player’s skill.
Chase Budinger is one of the players who eventually found himself out of the league. While the forward had a successful seven-year run, he couldn’t significantly impact the rosters he played for to attract another contract.
While some former players may struggle to find what to do next when they’ve devoted much of their lives to the game, Budinger was lucky enough to find another thing to thrive on. He made the jump to beach volleyball, which turned out to be a genius move as he’s now going to Paris as part of USA’s Olympic delegation.
Former NBA player Chase Budinger joins Team USA as a beach volleyball athlete
Field Level Media reports that Budinger and partner Miles Evans recently qualified for the US men’s team and will be playing in the Olympics. The Budinger/Evans duo are ranked 13th in the world beach volleyball rankings and are only second to Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, currently ranked fifth.
The 36-year-old played both basketball and volleyball before committing to making the NBA. His decision paid off as he managed to play seven years in the league, averaging 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 43/0% shooting and 35/2% from three. After switching to volleyball, he played a season in Europe before fully committing to beach volleyball.
Budinger is a poster boy of what a good post-basketball career could look like. However, he doesn’t deny that volleyball helped him find direction after being bumped off the league:
“Most guys, when they finish a sport, they’re kind of confused, or they’re kind of lost for the next journey,” Budinger said on the Sandcast volleyball podcast in 2018. “I was lucky enough to just transition into a different sport immediately and play at the highest level.”
American hoops fans wish Chase Budinger the best as he chases for Olympic gold in France.
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