Former Timberwolves player Chase Budinger ends his participation in Olympic beach volleyball

Former Timberwolves player Chase Budinger’s participation in the beach volleyball competition at the Paris Olympics came to an end on Monday.

Budinger and his partner Miles Evans lost to the world number one team of Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in straight sets: 21-16 and 21-14. They gave their all against Mol and Sorum, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and at the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Rome in 2022.

Budinger and Evans finished tied for ninth in the competition. They won their first group match against France, then lost to the Netherlands and Spain. The American duo managed to beat Australia in a “lucky loser” match to become the last team to qualify for the round of 16. Finally, their streak came to an end against the famous Norwegian duo, who have not dropped a set in four matches at these Olympics.

THANK YOU CHASE AND MILES!

We have loved every minute of your Olympic career.

Norway wins 21-16, 21-14, and Miles Evans and Chase Budinger finish tied for ninth in their first Olympics.#Beach volleyball #Paris2024 #Olympic Games image.twitter.com/QyL2cRRvMe

— USA Volleyball (@usavolleyball) August 5, 2024

If you’re not familiar with Budinger’s story, it’s an impressive one. He was a volleyball and basketball star in high school in Southern California (he was a basketball teammate of Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell), who eventually put volleyball aside to play basketball at the University of Arizona. Budinger was selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft and spent seven seasons in the league, playing for four teams. He appeared in 407 NBA games, 131 of which were in a Timberwolves uniform from 2012-15.

After her basketball career ended, Budinger took up beach volleyball in 2018 and ended up making it to these Olympics. She is the first person to play in both an NBA regular-season game and an Olympic beach volleyball match, which is a pretty interesting distinction. It seems unlikely that Budinger, 36, will be participating in the Los Angeles Olympics when they are held in 2028.