PARIS — Basketball journeyman Chase Budinger made an Olympic dream come true Monday, winning a beach volleyball match under the Eiffel Tower — while also reveling in a chance encounter with all-time star LeBron James.
He and partner Miles Evans made quick work of a French duo, winning their opening Olympic match in two sets, 21-14 and 21-11.
The trip to Paris has been a whirlwind for Budinger and Evans, and they’re soaking in every moment of it, mingling with fellow athletes, especially NBA players on Team USA.
“It was super, super awesome to see the respect that they gave him,” Evans told NBC News. “It was just, like, wow, really, like this guy is my partner?”
When they came upon James, the NBA’s leading scorer, he seemed surprised to run into Budinger in France.
“It took like a double take for LeBron,” Budinger said. “He’s, like, walking by, and I yelled his name, and he kind of looked, and he’s like, ‘Chase? What?'”
Budinger said he and Evans chatted on the bus to the match, reminding themselves to remain calm after they stepped on the sands under the Eiffel Tower, where a makeshift volleyball stadium and a hostile crowd greeted them.
Budinger, a former forward for the Indiana Pacers, the Phoenix Suns, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets, said he’ll always remember how nerves got the best of him in his rookie debut, recalling Monday that he went 0-for-2 with an air ball and two turnovers. And his memory was generally correct, as he missed his only two 3-point shots and gave away the ball twice that night in Portland in 2009.
“The first game I played in the NBA and this happened,” he said. “I played awful. … And one of my shots I had was an air ball. So the nerves affected my game. I felt like I was able to get a couple points [Tuesday] early, and that kind of kind of relieved some of that stress.”
The Americans were too tall, powerful and fast for the French duo of Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, who benefited from a spirited home crowd.
After the Americans won a dramatic point to take an early 7-2 lead, Evans gestured to the crowd, bringing chants of “USA, USA” from outnumbered but spirited U.S. fans and loud cries of “Allez les bleus!” — which translates to “Go blues!” — from patriotic locals.
Evans insisted he wasn’t taunting the French fans.
“You know, honestly, just trying to get the entire crowd on our side,” Evans said. “If we could just feel that support, even if they’re not supporting us, maybe try to convert a couple. ”
After the first set, fans spontaneously broke out in the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” briefly energizing Krou and Gauthier-Rat.
“It definitely lived up to expectations, man. This is absolutely unbelievable, absolutely breathtaking, and the feeling out there is unreal,” Budinger said. “I felt like it went too fast. I felt like there were times where I should have enjoyed the view a little more.”
Budinger and Evans entered this tournament as the world’s No. 13 duo and their French opponents at No. 34. The competition gets tougher for the Americans, as they take on No. 5 Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands on Tuesday and the No. 17 Spanish team of Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira on Friday.
The top two teams of each pool are guaranteed spots in the knockout round of 16.
