Former NBA Player Chase Budinger Starts His Olympic Beach Volleyball Career With A Win Over France

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Chase Budinger played in the NBA for seven years before stepping away from the hardwood in 2017. One would venture that spending multiple years in the Association would be Budinger's greatest athletic accomplishment, but he may be en route to accomplishing something even greater after trading the basketball in for a volleyball.

Budinger was a basketball and volleyball star at La Costa Canyon High School in California and was even named Volleyball Magazine's National Player of the Year as a senior. He ultimately chose to go Arizona to play hoops despite having scholarship offers from powerhouse volleyball programs such as UCLA and USC.

Budinger deciding to pursue a professional basketball career was a wise move given that there is far more money in playing basketball than there is volleyball, but after retiring from the hardwood he turned his attention to beach volleyball. It was another smart move from the 6-foot-7 big man as he and playing partner Miles Evans punched their ticket to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Their run in Paris began on Monday against none other than the host country of France, and the American duo got off to a perfect start with a 2-0 clean sweep over the French.

Budinger being a part of Team USA is easily one of the best stories coming out of the Olympics. For a former NBA player to take a decade-plus off from playing competitive beach volleyball to then get back into the swing of things and qualify for the Games is a hell of a feat in itself. Winning a match in the insanely awesome setting underneath the Eiffel Tower against the French, no less, is seriously awesome.

Next up for Budinger and Evans is a matchup against the Netherlands as they look to get out of pool play and make a legitimate run toward a medal.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.