The woman most commonly identified as Mike Budenholzer’s wife in earlier official basketball biographies is Mary Beth Budenholzer. The couple have four children: William Vincent, Savoia Elizabeth, Hanna Louise and John Bent. However, Budenholzer’s public comments have changed over time: at his Phoenix Suns introductory news conference in May 2024, he thanked his partner, Lisa, rather than referring to Mary Beth as his wife. Reliable public sources do not provide enough documentation to establish the exact date or circumstances of any divorce or separation.
Mike Budenholzer Wife: What Is Known About His Personal Life?
Mike Budenholzer is best known for his work on NBA sidelines, including his championship run with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and his later appointment as head coach of the Phoenix Suns.
But searches for Mike Budenholzer wife lead to a more complicated part of his biography.
For many years, basketball organizations and team biographies identified Mary Beth Budenholzer as his wife. A 2013 Atlanta Hawks announcement, for example, described Budenholzer as married to Mary Beth and said they had four children. The NBA Coaches Association’s biography later listed the same four children.
More recently, however, Budenholzer has publicly referred to a partner named Lisa.
During his May 2024 introductory news conference after being hired by the Phoenix Suns, Budenholzer spoke emotionally about his family and specifically thanked his partner Lisa. He also discussed the time he had spent with his children during the year he was away from coaching.
That distinction matters because much of the information online about Budenholzer’s marriage comes from older biographies that have not necessarily been updated.
Who Was Mike Budenholzer’s Wife?
Mary Beth Budenholzer is the woman identified as Mike Budenholzer’s wife in older official NBA and team materials.
The Atlanta Hawks’ announcement of Budenholzer’s appointment as head coach in 2013 identified Mary Beth as his wife and said the couple had four children: Will, Libby, Hanna and John.
A later Atlanta Hawks media guide likewise listed Budenholzer as being married to Mary Beth and identified the same four children.
The NBA Coaches Association’s biography gives the children’s fuller names and states that Budenholzer and his wife have four children.
Mary Beth has otherwise maintained a low public profile. Unlike her husband, she has not built a public career around professional sports, and there is relatively little reliable information about her personal or professional life.
That limited public footprint is important when evaluating online claims about her.
What Happened to Mike Budenholzer and Mary Beth?
This is one of the areas where online information requires caution.
Some secondary websites describe Mary Beth as Budenholzer’s former wife and report that the couple divorced or separated around 2018. However, the research for this article did not locate a sufficiently authoritative public record or official announcement confirming the exact date or circumstances of such a divorce.
At the same time, there is stronger evidence that Budenholzer’s relationship status had changed by 2024.
At his Phoenix Suns introductory press conference on May 17, 2024, Budenholzer thanked his children, siblings, father and partner Lisa. The Deseret News reported directly from the press conference and quoted Budenholzer describing Lisa as a major positive influence in his life.
Therefore, there are two different periods in the publicly documented record:
- Earlier NBA biographies: Mary Beth was identified as Budenholzer’s wife.
- May 2024: Budenholzer publicly referred to Lisa as his partner.
The available evidence does not establish exactly when his relationship with Mary Beth ended or when his relationship with Lisa began.
That is why a precise divorce year should not be presented as confirmed without stronger documentation.
Mike Budenholzer’s Four Children
One of the most consistently documented parts of his personal life is his family of four children.
The NBA Coaches Association identifies them as:
- William Vincent Budenholzer
- Savoia Elizabeth Budenholzer
- Hanna Louise Budenholzer
- John Bent Budenholzer
Older Hawks materials used shorter versions of their names, including Will, Libby, Hanna and John.
Budenholzer has occasionally spoken publicly about how important his children are to him.
His 2024 Suns introduction was particularly revealing in that regard. Instead of beginning his remarks with basketball strategy or his coaching plans, he spoke about his family and the year he had spent away from the NBA.
He explained that the time away had allowed him to focus heavily on his children and attend his son’s games.
That period provided an unusual glimpse into the private side of a coach whose career had previously kept him constantly involved in professional basketball.
Mike Budenholzer’s 2024 Comments About Family
Budenholzer’s comments at the Suns’ introductory press conference provide some of the clearest recent public information about his family life.
He said that during his year away from coaching, he had established priorities centered around his children and family. He described attending his son’s games and spending additional time with his children as an especially meaningful experience.
He also thanked his partner Lisa.
The comments are significant because they provide a more recent description of Budenholzer’s personal life than many online biographies.
Several websites still reproduce older descriptions of Mary Beth as his wife without acknowledging that Budenholzer publicly referred to a different partner in 2024.
For readers trying to understand the current situation, the 2024 comments are therefore important context.
Who Is Lisa, Mike Budenholzer’s Partner?
Budenholzer publicly identified Lisa as his partner during his 2024 Phoenix Suns introduction.
Beyond that acknowledgement, there is limited authoritative information about her personal background.
Budenholzer did not use the news conference to provide a detailed biography of Lisa. His remarks focused instead on how important she and his children had been during his time away from coaching.
Consequently, claims online about Lisa’s background, profession, age or relationship history should be treated carefully unless supported by reliable sources.
The confirmed point is simply that Budenholzer publicly referred to Lisa as his partner during the May 2024 press conference.
Why Mike Budenholzer’s Family Has Remained Relatively Private
Budenholzer’s public career has always been heavily centered on basketball.
He spent many years working behind the scenes with the San Antonio Spurs before becoming a head coach. He subsequently led the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.
That career generated extensive coverage of his basketball decisions but comparatively little information about his family.
Mary Beth, in particular, has not maintained the kind of public profile associated with many spouses of major sports personalities.
This explains why internet searches can produce a mixture of old biographies, unsourced celebrity profiles and outdated information.
For a subject involving private family relationships, the distinction between a documented fact and an online claim is especially important.
Mike Budenholzer’s Basketball Family Background
The story of Budenholzer’s family does not begin with his own children.
He grew up in Holbrook, Arizona, in a large basketball family.
Budenholzer is the youngest of seven children born to Vince and Libby Budenholzer. His father was a highly respected Arizona basketball coach, while his mother was the first woman to serve as mayor of Holbrook.
Basketball was deeply embedded in the Budenholzer household.
A Tucson-area profile of his childhood described the Budenholzer home as a central gathering place for basketball in Holbrook. The family’s influence extended well beyond Mike’s eventual NBA career.
His father, Vince, coached for decades in Arizona and was later recognized for his contribution to the state’s basketball community.
Mike eventually followed his father’s coaching path, although he first played basketball himself.
From Small-Town Arizona to the NBA
Budenholzer was born on August 6, 1969, in Holbrook, Arizona.
He attended Holbrook High School before going to Pomona College in California, where he played both basketball and golf and studied philosophy, politics and economics. After graduating in 1993, he played professionally in Denmark before beginning his coaching career.
His coaching career eventually took him to the San Antonio Spurs.
He joined the Spurs organization in the 1990s and spent many years working alongside Gregg Popovich. Budenholzer became an assistant coach and was part of a Spurs organization that won multiple NBA championships.
That experience became the foundation for his eventual transition to an NBA head coach.
From Atlanta to Milwaukee
Budenholzer received his first NBA head-coaching opportunity with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013.
The Hawks announcement from that period also provides one of the clearest historical references to his family, identifying Mary Beth as his wife and naming their four children.
He remained Atlanta’s head coach through 2018.
Budenholzer then took over the Milwaukee Bucks.
His biggest professional achievement came during the 2020-21 NBA season, when he guided Milwaukee to the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1971. The NBA Coaches Association notes that he also won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2019.
His coaching career has therefore included both long-term development work and major postseason success.
Why His Family Became Part of the Story in Phoenix
Budenholzer’s appointment as Phoenix Suns head coach in 2024 was particularly meaningful because Phoenix is located in his home state.
At his introductory press conference, he reflected on growing up in Arizona and following the Suns.
But the most personal part of his remarks concerned his family.
After spending a year without an NBA coaching job, he said he had been able to prioritize his children and family. He described attending his son’s games and spending time with his children as a valuable experience.
He also expressed appreciation for his partner Lisa.
That public discussion offers more current insight into his personal circumstances than older team biographies that continue to list Mary Beth as his wife.
Mike Budenholzer and His Children Today
Budenholzer has consistently spoken about his children with affection.
During the 2024 Suns introduction, he highlighted their importance after a year in which he was able to spend considerably more time with them.
The NBA Coaches Association confirms that he has four children, while Budenholzer’s own comments demonstrate that maintaining a relationship with them remained an important part of his life during his coaching break.
Beyond those publicly documented details, there is relatively little reason to speculate about the private lives of his children.
They are not public sports figures in the same way their father is, and information about their personal lives should be treated accordingly.
What Is the Most Reliable Information About Mike Budenholzer’s Wife?
For readers searching specifically for Mike Budenholzer wife, the most reliable information can be separated into historical and recent facts.
Historical information
Official and team-related sources identify Mary Beth Budenholzer as his wife and identify four children. The Atlanta Hawks published this information when Budenholzer became the team’s head coach in 2013.
More recent information
In May 2024, Budenholzer publicly referred to Lisa as his partner during his Phoenix Suns introductory press conference.
What remains unclear
The publicly available authoritative sources reviewed do not establish the exact date or circumstances of any separation or divorce between Budenholzer and Mary Beth.
For that reason, it would be misleading to present an exact divorce date as a confirmed fact.
Mike Budenholzer’s Current Career Situation
Budenholzer’s personal life has attracted renewed interest partly because of his high-profile coaching career.
The Phoenix Suns hired him in May 2024 after he had spent the previous season away from NBA coaching. The appointment brought him back to Arizona, where he grew up.
His Suns tenure ended in April 2025, when Phoenix parted ways with him following the 2024-25 season.
That means older articles describing Budenholzer as the current Suns head coach are now outdated.
His professional future and personal life should be considered separately: his coaching employment can be documented through official NBA and team announcements, while details about his family relationships are much more limited.
Why Readers Should Be Careful With Online Claims
The phrase “Mike Budenholzer wife” produces numerous results, but not every result has the same evidentiary value.
Some websites repeat information from older biographies. Others publish highly specific claims about marriage dates, divorces or private relationships without linking to primary evidence.
A trustworthy account should prioritize:
- Official NBA biographies.
- Team announcements.
- Direct comments from Budenholzer.
- Established news organizations reporting from interviews or press conferences.
- Clearly documented public records when available.
It should not treat repeated claims from multiple low-quality websites as independent confirmation.
In Budenholzer’s case, this distinction matters because older official biographies and his later public reference to Lisa describe different stages of his personal life.
The Bottom Line on Mike Budenholzer Wife
Mary Beth Budenholzer is the woman identified as Mike Budenholzer’s wife in official and team biographies from the earlier part of his NBA coaching career.
The couple have four children, whose names are documented by the NBA Coaches Association.
However, Budenholzer’s public comments in 2024 provide newer information. During his Phoenix Suns introductory press conference, he referred to Lisa as his partner, while discussing the importance of his children and family.
The available reliable sources do not establish the exact circumstances or date of any separation from Mary Beth. Therefore, readers should be cautious about online claims that provide a specific divorce date without supporting documentation.
For now, the clearest picture is that Mary Beth is part of Budenholzer’s documented family history and the mother of his four children, while Lisa was publicly identified as his partner in 2024.
FAQs
Who is Mike Budenholzer’s wife?
Mike Budenholzer was publicly identified as married to Mary Beth Budenholzer in earlier Atlanta Hawks and NBA-related biographies. The Hawks identified Mary Beth as his wife when Budenholzer became Atlanta’s head coach in 2013.
Does Mike Budenholzer have children?
Yes. Mike Budenholzer has four children: William Vincent, Savoia Elizabeth, Hanna Louise and John Bent.
Who is Mike Budenholzer’s partner Lisa?
Lisa was publicly identified by Budenholzer as his partner during his Phoenix Suns introductory press conference in May 2024. Beyond that public acknowledgement, reliable sources provide limited information about her personal background.
Are Mike Budenholzer and Mary Beth still married?
The current marital status is not clearly documented in authoritative public sources. Earlier official biographies identify Mary Beth as his wife, while Budenholzer referred to Lisa as his partner in 2024. Claims about an exact divorce date should therefore be treated cautiously.
How many kids does Mike Budenholzer have?
He has four children. The NBA Coaches Association lists their names as William Vincent, Savoia Elizabeth, Hanna Louise and John Bent.
Where is Mike Budenholzer from?
Budenholzer was born and raised in Holbrook, Arizona. He comes from a large basketball family and is the youngest of seven children.
What did Mike Budenholzer say about his family in 2024?
During his May 2024 Phoenix Suns introduction, Budenholzer spoke about prioritizing his children and family during the year he was away from coaching. He also thanked his partner Lisa and described the time spent with his children as especially meaningful.
Is Mike Budenholzer still the Phoenix Suns coach?
No. The Suns ended Budenholzer’s tenure after the 2024-25 season. The 2024 Suns hiring is therefore historical information rather than his current coaching position.
