B.J. Little was always nervous when he played basketball at the Budenholzer house. Every visit felt like a tryout.
The Budenholzers were the de facto first family of Holbrook, a town 250 miles north of Tucson. Vince Budenholzer was a state championship-winning Hall of Fame basketball coach at Holbrook High School. His wife, Libby, was the first woman to serve as mayor of the town. They had seven children together: Jim, Theresa, Joe, Richard, Helen, Bill — and their youngest boy, Mike.
“As a young kid, you always wanted to go over there and make an impression in front of Mr. Budenholzer,” said Little, who now works at Winslow Justice Court after 15 years as a probation officer. “Why? Because he was the coach and a guy that was winning a bunch of games. So, I always played my heart out there, because I wanted to make that early childhood impression.”
The Budenholzers’ house was “the mecca of basketball,” Little said. They were the only family in the small town to have a concrete basketball court in their yard. Nearby fog lights were turned on when games carried on past sunset.
Playing in the slice of hoops heaven, “we felt like it was the best time of our lives,” Little said.
The best time of Mike Budenholzer’s life? That would be this month, when his Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals. Budenholzer, 51, has been the Bucks’ head coach since 2018; before that, he spent six seasons coaching the Hawks.
Holbrook cheered its hometown hero in the Finals, even though Budenholzer was squaring off against the home-state team. Budenholzer grew up a Suns fan and cheered Paul Westphal and Walter Davis as a boy.
“When one (Holbrook High School) Roadrunner succeeds, we all succeed. If you come through our system and then go on to succeed, we all succeed,” said Holbrook School District superintendent Robbie Koerperich. “That’s how we feel about things right now.
“Mike has elevated himself to where people know who he is on the national stage. To say that it started in Holbrook is very special. It’s very prideful as well. Small towns produce great people.”
As he watched the Bucks attack of the basket and play pestering defense, Little — Budenholzer’s friend and high school teammate — was struck by one thought.
“Those are Mike Budenholzer’s guys,” he said. “‘We’re going to play hard defense, move the ball and play unselfish.’ That’s Mike Budenholzer as a person right there.”
Budenholzer learned physical and mental toughness at Hunt Park, the city park located nearby his home. His father’s former players, many of them older, would often play pick-up games there.
Budenholzer always tried to beat Jesse Hollins, a local star.
“Mike wanted to compete against Jesse. He knew — and his dad told him, ‘For you to be better at your craft, you probably need to go across to the park.’ There was no easy way over there,” Little said. “If you come to the park and play, you were going to take your licks.”
It was more than just basketball.
“That’s where we all learned our skills,” said Little. “That’s where we learned the physical skills of basketball, how to tackle for football, where we learned to play wiffle ball. We would play all day.”
Budenholzer moved on to high school, where he played quarterback in football, shortstop in baseball and point guard in basketball. He was also a standout golfer.
ABOVE: Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, right, gestures to the crowd during a July 22 parade celebrating Milwaukee’s NBA championship. Budenholzer is a native of Holbrook, a town located 230 miles north of Tucson. AT LEFT: Budenholzer, a 6-foot guard, earned Arizona Daily Star honors as a senior in 1988.
“He was in a position where he naturally brought leadership,” Little said. “We could always trust Mike simply because we knew the level of coaching that we had. Whether it was football or basketball, we had coaches who preached accountability and were very disciplined.
“But it was Mike who would come into the huddle and say, ‘Hey, guys, this is what we have to do.’ So, we looked for that leadership from him because it always appeared that he was the liaison between the sideline to who we were on the field.”
Budenholzer graduated from Holbrook in 1988 and went on to play at Division III Pomona College, a liberal arts school in Claremont, California. There, he learned under the legendary Greg Popovich.
It wasn’t long before Budenholzer followed in the footsteps of both his father and Popovich. During the summer of 1990, Budenholzer trekked from Holbrook to Tucson every day for the Lute Olson basketball camps, earning $150 per day to help out as an assistant coach and counselor.
“He never coached before,” said former UA assistant coach Jim Rosborough, “but he wanted to come down to work.”
Following a brief stint playing professionally in Turkey and coaching youth basketball on the side, Budenholzer reunited with Popovich in the NBA. He joined the San Antonio Spurs’ staff as a video coordinator, starting a climb that led to the Spurs’ bench.
Between 1996-2013, Budenholzer — working as an assistant for Popovich — helped the Spurs win four championships.
“If you follow his career, he’s been around some really incredible people, so it’s not surprising he’s at this stage,” Rosborough said. “Now Mike is in the NBA Finals making a little bit more than $150.”
Budenholzer was named the Atlanta Hawks’ head coach in 2013, and was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2015. Three years later, Atlanta and Budenholzer parted ways.
Budenholzer was soon hired by a Milwaukee franchise that had a budding star in Giannis Antetokounmpo and his reliable sidekick Khris Middleton.
Three years after that, Milwaukee sits atop of the basketball world. The Bucks’ run to the championship in 2021 and watching his friend reach the pinnacle of basketball success “is as humbling as it is honorable” for Little, Budenholzer’s longtime friend.
“Because he deserves it,” Little said. “He worked at it. Mike was a worker, he was a studier. Mike climbed the ladder as a video guy.”
Budenholzer hasn’t strayed far from his roots. He donated $100,000 to help Holbrook natives attend college. The gymnasium at Holbrook High School is now “Budenholzer Court.” It’s a testament to not only Budenholzer and his father but the Bucks coach’s siblings, who work in law, education, finance, business, pharmacy and real estate.
“I feel very fortunate to be connected to not only Mike but that family, because they were that one family that always encouraged you to move forward,” Little said.
Added Koerperich, the school superintendent: “People understand that they came from Holbrook. No Budenholzer lives in Holbrook any longer, but there’s a sense of pride that they elevated — not just Mike, but all of his siblings.
“They’re always connected to Holbrook.”
