“Since I got back into volleyball, the Olympics were the goal.” At the age of 28, his NBA career came to an end, but Chase Budinger was determined and made his debut on the AVP tour in 2018. Last month, he became the only former NBA player to be part of Beach Volleyball at the Olympics. And now on the 29th, he started the campaign on a winning note.

With a 21-14, 21-11, Budinger and Miles Evans easily dispatched the home team and 36th-ranked team of Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat. The 36-year-old has two more challenges in the form of Brazil and Spain by August 2nd to make his way ahead for first Olympic gold. Getting here wasn’t an easy route for Bundinger who played 4 different teams across his 7-year-tint. Here’s a brief look.

Chase Budinger’s Net Worth

Drafted as a second-round pick by the Detroit Pistons in 2009, he was traded to the Houston Rockets the same night. The co-MVP of the 2006 McDonald’s All-American Game alongside Kevin Durant, signed a 4-year rookie contract. With an annual salary of $819,353, which comes to a total of $3,277,413 contract with the Houston Rockets. Playing for 3 seasons he averaged 9.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 210 games.

He was later traded to the Wolves as the Rockets received the No. 18 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. Signing a 3-year deal worth $15,000,000 contract and would go on to play 131 games. Due to constant injuries in his last 2 seasons, he averaged 7.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists. With diminishing returns, he was traded to the Pacers for Damjan Rudez in 2015. And after just one season he was waived off.

As per Spotrac, Chase Budinger signed 1 year, veteran’s minimum $258,082 contract with the Phoenix Suns in 2016. But there was something that prompted the Brooklyn Nets to still give Budinger a last try. However, the partnership did not last longer than 4 pre-season games. Thus, his career earnings in the NBA amount to a total of $18,362,950. Following the setback, it was only a path bright ahead for Bundinger.

Path of goodness for Chase Budinger

Remembering the night crystal clear, Chase Budinger and his now-wife, Jessica Fine, met at a mutual friend’s house and started arguing. It was about the Mayweather and Pacquiao fight in 2015, which was five years in the making. Later, the two would end the fight at a local bar, “and the rest is history,” they said to Brides.com

Though the fight took 5 years in the making, Budinger took a little less time than that as per Fine. “I turned around to look at the grapes and when I turned back he was on one knee,” during a wine-tasting trip in Napa 4 years later. In 2021, they got married and exchanged their vows. “These promises ranged from loving and supporting one another to killing spiders and a lifetime of foot massages,” said Fine.

In between, from the stop pulled in the NBA to the marriage, Budinger found yet another hope. As a high schooler, the former NBA star was an impressive Volleyball player. He even led his school to three state championships and was named by Volleyball Magazine as the National Player of the Year as a senior. After years, he got to live the sport again when two-time indoor Olympian Sean Rosenthal announced that he wanted to partner with Budinger for the Beach Volleyball in 2018.

Though a rookie in the sport, pairing with Rosenthal, the duo won seven domestic events to place second in San Fransisco. It was only uphill for the 36-year-old. “To make the Olympics and to have name on the Manhattan Beach Pier,” Chase Budinger had shared his two personal goals with Volleyballmag a month after his wedding. Three years in, the Volleyball star is halfway there.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.”