Budinger and Evans spent only 32 minutes with their toes in the sand. Not enough time to appreciate the view. Yet plenty enough for others to appreciate the enormity of the moment.
Decades ago, a young Budinger created a dream board, and on it, he placed the Olympic rings. A big dream, but as a dual-sport athlete, Budinger had not specifically envisioned following the footsteps of the NBA players on Team USA or representing his country in men’s volleyball. He just wanted to go to the Olympics. On Monday, he made history as the first athlete to play in the NBA and on an Olympic beach volleyball team.
At 36 and more than eight years removed from his final appearance in the NBA, Budinger’s dream board became a reality.
“It’s definitely lived up to expectations,” Budinger said of his first Olympics moment. “This was absolutely unbelievable. Absolutely breathtaking, and the feeling out there is unreal.”
There’s plenty of crossover between Budinger’s two passions. He still gets to wear a tank top and shorts to the office, only now he can pair it with wraparound shades. And the volleyball crowd loves big blocks just as much as NBA fans.
While Budinger wasn’t known as a towering rim protector in the league, he’s the 6-foot-7 netminder on the beach. In the second set, when Budinger stuffed one of the French players at the net to pull the Americans ahead 9-6, a man wearing a bucket hat with blue stars borrowed the finger wag celebration made famous by Dikembe Mutombo. No, no, no!
Budinger made no such audacious display, though it might have been apt, after one of his four blocks for points, for Budinger to extend his index finger to his lips as he and Evans spent the afternoon silencing the mostly pro-French audience.
Budinger should understand the power of a home-court advantage, and as he felt — not just heard — the cheers for French duo Arnaud Gauthier-Rat and Youssef Krou, he knew the Americans were in enemy territory. And he loved it.
“It was so loud in there. The French fans really came out to support their team; [they] were howling,” Budinger said. He turned to Evans during the French players’ introduction and said: “‘Man, this is a great feeling!’ I love playing against this. And it just brought back a lot of memories going into NBA arenas and playing on the road.”
Budinger played seven seasons in the NBA, mostly in a role of athletic guy off the bench. During the 2012 NBA all-star slam dunk contest, he riffed from the movie “White Men Can’t Jump,” dressing as Woody Harrelson’s character and leaping over rapper Sean Combs. (If he owned a time machine, he surely would go back and pick any other human to jump over.) In the 2016-17 season, Budinger went to Spain to lengthen his career. But after one year overseas, he thought about his future. More specifically, his future in volleyball.
“I knew this was the route that I wanted to take, but I do remember asking myself if this was the right decision at the time of quitting basketball,” Budinger said. “Am I doing the right thing for myself? But after sulking three weeks,” he said, “I kind of changed my mindset.”
Budinger didn’t treat the beach as a hobby in retirement. He traveled the globe for competitions, sought out Evans as a partner and trained five times a week. All for the goal of making the Olympics. Along the way, he earned admiration from his former colleagues.
Evans posted a video of members of the U.S. men’s basketball team greeting Budinger ahead of the Opening Ceremonies on Friday.
“Congrats! I’ve been paying attention. I’ve been watching,” LeBron James could be heard telling Budinger in the video.
After the Monday match, Gauthier-Rat of the French team showed admiration for how Budinger made the transition from hardwood to sand.
“Big respect,” Gauthier-Rat said. “I don’t know if it has to do with his NBA experience, but from my perspective, he was the only composed player on the court. The three others, his partner and both of us, were more stressed and feeling more pressure. He was more relaxed … and that made a difference.”
His basketball past might have taught Budinger to keep a calm facade, but he admitted feeling the “ultimate nerves” just like he did ahead of his NBA debut. However, after the stadium announcer introduced Budinger as the American player who was “making history,” he and Evans meshed perfectly together while breezing to the two-set win. Next match, Budinger knows, he should try to slow it down a little and relish in his dream.
“I felt like it went too fast,” Budinger said. “I felt like there were times when I should’ve enjoyed the view a little more, or maybe the timeouts could be a little longer for us so that we can enjoy it.”
