Former NBA Player Chase Budinger Advances to Olympic Beach Volleyball KO Bracket

Chase Budinger and Miles Evans live to fight another day at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The American pair beat Australia's Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert in straight sets in Saturday's "lucky loser" match to advance to the knockout stage. They're the second U.S. team to qualify for the round of 16.

Budinger and Evans finished third in Group F with one win and two losses, which denied them automatic qualifying to the next stage. The tournament format at least left them with a lifeline to extend their stay in Paris.

Budinger's 6'7" frame and impressive leaping ability proved to play an important role for Team USA. His four blocks were far and away the most in the match. Hodges was the only other player to record even a single block.

The former NBA forward also boasted an 18.03 percent hitting efficiency. Evans finished at a 7.69 percent clip.

Budinger's decision to leave basketball behind and focus solely on volleyball—he was a decorated volleyball player in high school—has been well chronicled by now. Simply qualifying for the Olympics validated his choice, and coming home with a medal would be the cherry on top.

Budinger and Evans will face off against Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sørum in the round of 16 on Monday. Mol and Sørum were perfect in Group B and are the seventh-ranked tandem in men's beach volleyball.

They'll pose a significant challenge to Budinger and Evans.