Paris
CNN
—
Chase Budinger is used to playing in packed stadiums, but never like this.
The former basketball player, who spent seven years in the NBA with four different teams, now finds himself in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, competing at the Olympics in a different sport entirely.
Budinger is a professional beach volleyball player these days, and alongside Team USA partner Miles Evans, is hoping for a deep run at the Games in Paris.
“It’s been great, it’s been really fun,” Budinger told reporters about his Olympic experience to date. “It’s been amazing to have so much support at each and every game, playing underneath the Eiffel Tower – this atmosphere is electric.
“I’m just trying to take it all in day by day and really enjoy this whole experience and moment because our journey getting here was such a long and gruesome and tough route.”
As of now, the pair are down but not out of the men’s beach volleyball competition at the Paris Olympics. A straight-sets defeat against Spain on Friday sees them finish third in the group and now hoping to progress as a top third-placed team or via a “lucky loser” match.
With must-win matches ahead, the stakes are high and the nerves are very much present, even for a man used to playing in one of the world’s biggest sports leagues.
“This adds a little more pressure just because it’s a smaller tournament,” said Budinger. “It’s only a few matches whereas the NBA, you get 82-plus games in a full season.
“It’s a great atmosphere out here. The crowd is really getting behind you and screaming and yelling, and it feels so great but also puts those nerves in you.”
Budinger grew up in California playing both basketball and beach volleyball, but he ultimately decided to focus on the former when he started at the University of Arizona.
Drafted by the Detroit Piston in 2009, he went on to play more than 400 NBA games with Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and Phoenix Suns. A brief stint in Spain followed, after which Budinger decided to leave basketball and return to beach volleyball, making his professional debut in 2018.
“It was kind of always the plan of mine if my body was healthy enough after my basketball career to go back to beach volleyball because I knew you could play into your 40s and late 30s,” says Budinger, now 36.
“It’s a lot easier on your body. Of course, I wasn’t planning on trying for the Olympics, but because I was able to make the switch at a younger age than I thought I would have, then I said, ‘Why not? Let’s go for it.’”
He and Evans have shared an arduous journey just to qualify for the Olympics, playing 11 tournaments around the world in the space of 14 weeks before earning a spot on the US team. If anything, that experience has only helped to strengthen a partnership which has been going strong since last year.
“Chase brings a level of professionalism that I haven’t ever experienced with other teammates,” said 34-year-old Evans, “and I think we’ve got a really good system when we’re playing well.”
Both men are appearing at the Olympics for the first time, and Budinger is the first person to have played in the NBA and appeared at the Games in beach volleyball, according to NBC.
The two disciplines might seem worlds apart when it comes to status, salaries, and viewing figures, but the sporting parallels are clear: both require a unique blend of athleticism, height, and hand-eye coordination, while a shared understanding with your teammates is also crucial.
At six feet and seven inches, it’s perhaps no surprise that Budinger has found a home in both. But he also draws on his experience of playing in the NBA when he’s out on the beach volleyball court, particularly when it comes to dealing with pressure.
“I try to use some tricks and breathing techniques and kind of calm the mind as much as I can – use those basketball experiences of playing in big arenas,” says Budinger. “The breathing techniques is just trying to be as calm as possible because sometimes those can get going, your heart rate gets up, and that’s when your play starts to go down.”
Against Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira, who have been playing together since about the time that Budinger was drafted into the NBA, the American duo were edged out in a tight first set before being outplayed in the second, going down 21-18, 21-11.
“We played crap, they played well,” was Budinger’s blunt assessment of the game. “That sums it up right there.”
The Netherlands’ subsequent victory against France means that Budinger and Evans will remain in the competition, potentially needing to contest a “lucky loser” match on Saturday.
To be at their best, it sometimes helps to remember the journey that they’ve undertaken just to get to where they are now: on a rectangle of sand at the base of the Eiffel Tower.
“The hard work that we put in to get here was a lot tougher than just playing in this tournament,” said Budinger. “Sometimes we forget that when we go into these games.”
