Chase Budinger holds the Manhattan Beach Open title, the crown jewel of beach volleyball, eight years after walking away from the NBA to start over on South Bay sand.

Budinger and partner Miles Evans won the 2025 AVP Manhattan Beach Open on Sunday, August 17, defeating Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser in straight sets, 21-19, 22-16, according to Manhattan Beach News. It was their first Manhattan Beach Open victory. After the match, the pair posed with Manhattan Beach Mayor David Lesser.

The 2026 edition of the tournament runs Friday, August 14 through Sunday, August 16 at the Manhattan Beach Pier. General admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

The path to that title started in Hermosa Beach. During NBA offseasons, Budinger rented a home in the city and spent summers playing pickup beach volleyball. When he contemplated retiring from basketball in 2017, AVP legend and two-time Olympian Sean Rosenthal reached out. Rosenthal needed a new partner, and the two had already built chemistry on the Hermosa sand.

"It was a good, long process of mulling it over," Budinger told Our South Bay magazine. "I asked my family and close friends. In my heart, I just thought it was the right time to move on from basketball."

The athletic background that preceded that decision was staggering. In high school, Budinger was named National Player of the Year in indoor volleyball by Volleyball Magazine while simultaneously earning McDonald's All-American honors in basketball. He shared co-MVP honors in the McDonald's All-American Game with Kevin Durant. After three seasons at Arizona under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, the Detroit Pistons selected him No. 44 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. He played seven NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and Phoenix Suns, peaking at 9.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 2010-11. He competed in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Rosenthal, who competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics with partner Jake Gibb, saw the transition coming at the right moment.

"I think it was the right time for him to make that switch," Rosenthal told Our South Bay. "A year earlier or a year later, it might not have allowed him to make that run in 2024."

That run: Budinger and Evans represented the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing ninth. A year later, the pair captured the Manhattan Beach Open.

For the 2026 AVP league season, Budinger and Evans compete as the San Diego Smash, according to AVP rosters. The pair played at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood in July 2025 as part of a league season that AVP CEO Robby Corvino said averaged "well over 200,000" viewers per broadcast under a multi-year deal with CBS and the CW Network.

Budinger has called the South Bay "the mecca of beach volleyball" and has won both the Hermosa Beach Open and the Manhattan Beach Open. His sights are set on 2028.

"I want to go to the 2028 Olympics and medal," Budinger said. "As long as I continue to get better, that is the ultimate goal — especially with it being in Los Angeles."

The 2026 Manhattan Beach Open, established in 1960, features a 32-team main draw, double-elimination format in both the men's and women's draws. Sets are played to 21 points, best-of-three.