Chase Budinger is an American professional volleyball player and former professional basketball player. Budinger was a fringe player for several seasons in the NBA but found more success when he retired to become a beach volleyball player. Budinger was a multisport athlete growing up but didn't immediately choose volleyball.
It was nice for Budinger to know he could eventually pursue a volleyball career, but he decided to chase the money with an NBA contract. Now Budinger will have the distinction of appearing in both an NBA game and an Olympic volleyball match. Let's look at Chase Budinger's NBA earnings before his 2024 Olympic Volleyball debut.
What were Chase Budinger's NBA earnings?
Budinger's first NBA contract came after getting drafted, agreeing to a four-year, $3.28 million contract with the Houston Rockets in 2009. Budinger's performance over the first four years of his career led him to sign his most lucrative contract, a three-year, $15 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Chase's career took a turn after that deal expired as his next contract was a one-year, $258,082 deal with the Phoenix Suns. He managed to impress the Brooklyn Nets enough after a training camp invite in 2016 to land a one-year, $1.3 million contract, but the Nets waived him less than a month later.
Budinger's career earnings totaled $18.3 million, spanning seven seasons and four teams.
Chase Budinger's early life
Budinger was a standout in basketball and volleyball growing up, as he was a McDonald's All-American in basketball while leading his school's volleyball team to three state championships and was the National Player of the Year in his senior season.
Budinger followed the money, which looking at his NBA earnings, was the right idea. He signed with Arizona to play basketball, a decision that (temporarily) ended his volleyball career. Arizona doesn't offer men's varsity volleyball as a sport. He started all 30 games for the Wildcats in his freshman season, averaging 15.6 points
Budinger stayed in college for three seasons, averaging 17 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists for his career. He could've left for the NBA as a mid-first-round pick in 2007 but ended up 44th overall in 2009.
Chase Budinger's NBA career
The Detroit Pistons drafted Budinger but subsequently traded him to the Houston Rockets. He averaged around nine points per game over his three seasons with the Rockets and then averaged 9.4 in his first season with the Timberwolves.
Budinger's performance began to drop off after that as he never averaged more than seven points for the rest of his career. He played in the EuroLeague for 29 games with Baskonia in 2016-18, but that was the end of his basketball career.
Chase Budinger's volleyball career
Budinger began playing on the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour in 2018. He was AVP Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Player in his first season. It didn't take long for Budinger to succeed, as he won an AVP title in 2019.
Budinger set his sights on qualifying for the Paris Olympics and saw that dream becoming more likely in May when he and his partner Miles Evans passed Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb in the international rankings.
Brunner and Crabb lost their first match in the qualifying tournament on Wednesday, making Budinger and Evans the last spot for Team USA. Budinger and Evans are the 13th-ranked beach volleyball duo in the world.
They will join Andy Benesh and Miles Partain on the men's side, while the women's representatives for the USA are Kelly Cheng/Sara Hughes and Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss.
Budinger will become the first person to play both an NBA game and an Olympic beach volleyball game.
Follow Us
Subscribe
