Chase Budinger Says He's Seen 'Zero' NBAers Who Could Transition To Pro Volleyball

TMZ

Chase Budinger was able to successfully transition from the NBA to pro volleyball ... but he tells TMZ Sports he's yet to see a single hooper who could repeat his feat.

Transcript

00:00You know, you come from the NBA, right, where the dudes are jumping out of the gym.

00:07How is the athleticism comparison going on when you're in ABP?

00:12Are you seeing some serious jumpers?

00:14Oh, yeah.

00:14There's some guys that could jump out of the gym that play beach volleyball.

00:20And it's even more crazy because they're doing it on the beach.

00:23And that's the crazy part about it is, you know, when you come out to the sand,

00:28you come out to places like Hermosa, Manhattan, where the sand's pretty deep.

00:32People aren't jumping very high off of that.

00:34But there's some beach players that could definitely get up and have those, you know, 36 to 40-inch verticals.

00:39Who are some of the NBA players that you're like, you got in the sand with, and you're like,

00:42dude, this dude, he could be a pro easy.

00:47Who's nice?

00:48Zero?

00:48None.

00:49None.

00:50But there has been a few guys that have impressed me.

00:53Richard Jefferson, J.J. Barea, Blake Griffin were just some of the few that have come out and played with

01:01and can compete and have fun with it, but not at the level that we play at.

01:06Not going to the Olympics.

01:07No, not.

01:07Exactly.

01:08There's a lot more between the lines stuff than skill-wise.

01:11Yes, exactly.

01:12It was very hard to do what Chase did.

01:15You got a young son, okay?

01:17Now you've played two sports professionally.

01:22Are you like, hey, I really want to see him go a certain direction?

01:26What's the vibes?

01:28What's he leading to?

01:29I let him choose what sports he wants to do.

01:32But obviously watching me play beach volleyball and watching clips of me playing basketball,

01:37he kind of gravitates towards those sports.

01:41Every time I come back from a tournament, he picks up something new from watching me on TV.

01:44The last tournament, I remember coming home and he started being in the ready position

01:50because he sees me, so he comes home and goes,

01:52Daddy, watch, I'm ready.

01:54And it's like the cutest thing ever.

01:56I love that.

01:57I love that.

01:57Well, look, maybe a volleyball pro before a basketball player.

02:01Who knows?

02:02Who knows?

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