NEW YORK — LeBron James. Dwight Howard. Kevin Durant. Harrison Barnes.
Just four athletes have been named MVP of the McDonald’s High School All-American boys’ basketball game and won an Olympic gold medal this century.
Chase Budinger aspires to be the fifth, despite having not played in the NBA since 2016.
“I’m a professional beach volleyball player now,” Budinger, a seven-season NBA veteran, said at the AVP New York City Open last week. “I’m still getting used to saying that.”
Budinger used his size — 6-foot-7 — and athleticism — he dunked over Diddy in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest — to transition to the sand.