Who Is Mike Budenholzer Partner? Meet Lisa, Ex-Wife Mary Beth and His 4 Kids
Mike Budenholzer has spent decades building one of the most respected coaching careers in professional basketball, but he has always made it clear that basketball is only one part of his life. Away from NBA arenas, his four children and close family relationships have remained especially important to him.
For people searching for Mike Budenholzer’s wife, there is an important distinction. Budenholzer was previously married to Mary Beth Budenholzer, also known as Mary Ellen Barth. The former couple share four children, William Vincent, Savoia Elizabeth “Libby,” Hanna Louise and John Bent. Their marriage later ended in divorce. Budenholzer has since publicly referred to a woman named Lisa as his partner.
There have also been major developments in Mary Beth’s life. In September 2026, she married former San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in Texas, according to reporting based on a Bexar County marriage license.
Who Is Mike Budenholzer’s Former Wife Mary Beth?
Mary Beth Budenholzer, whose maiden name is Mary Ellen Barth, spent many years beside Mike during an important period of his basketball career. She largely avoided celebrity attention and never appeared interested in creating a public identity simply because her husband worked in the NBA.
Mary was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and attended Mary Carroll High School before studying at the University of Texas at Austin. Compared with her former husband, there is relatively little public information about her professional life. Much of what became known about her came through stories involving the family during Budenholzer’s years with the San Antonio Spurs.
She was occasionally part of the celebrations surrounding the Spurs’ successful seasons. One often repeated family story involves Mary and the children placing brooms along the street following a San Antonio playoff sweep. Their home also displayed a “Best of the West” banner during another memorable period for the team.
Those small moments give a better picture of her role during Budenholzer’s early coaching years. She was connected to basketball life without trying to become a public figure herself.
Recent reports state that Mike and Mary’s divorce took place in 2016, although some older online profiles have given different dates. What is clear is that they were no longer together by the time Budenholzer introduced Lisa publicly as his partner in 2024.
Who Is Mike Budenholzer’s Partner Lisa?
Mike Budenholzer’s current partner is publicly known as Lisa.
Unlike many relationships connected to professional sports, very little personal information about Lisa has been shared publicly. Budenholzer himself confirmed their relationship while speaking at his introductory press conference after being hired by the Phoenix Suns in May 2024.
With Lisa present, Budenholzer described her as a “game-changer” in his life while thanking the people who had supported him. His remarks came during an emotional section of the press conference in which he also discussed his children, father and siblings.
Budenholzer has not publicly shared many details about Lisa’s background, career or how long they have been together. That appears consistent with the generally private approach he has taken toward his relationships.
Rather than filling those gaps with speculation, the clearest information available is simply that Lisa is his partner and was important enough to be among the first people he thanked when beginning his Phoenix chapter.
Mike Budenholzer and Mary Beth Have Four Children
Mike Budenholzer is the father of four children with Mary Beth: William Vincent, Savoia Elizabeth, Hanna Louise and John Bent. Official basketball biographies have consistently identified the four children as an important part of Budenholzer’s family.
Budenholzer’s relationship with his children became especially visible during the season he spent away from coaching after leaving the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023.
NBA coaches live demanding schedules. Between travel, practices, film sessions, games and playoff preparation, family time can disappear quickly. Budenholzer used his break from the league differently. He attended his children’s events, spent more time with family and later described that period as something he deeply appreciated.
When Phoenix introduced him as head coach, he became emotional almost immediately while talking about his kids.
It showed that the year away had not simply been a professional break. It had given him time that NBA coaches rarely receive.
William Vincent Budenholzer
William Vincent is the oldest of Mike and Mary Beth’s children.
Earlier family profiles reported that William attended Texas A&M University. Compared with some of his siblings, William has kept a relatively limited public profile, and there is not much reliable information available about his current career.
That privacy is fairly typical for the Budenholzer children. Despite their father’s high-profile NBA career, the family has never operated like a celebrity household constantly sharing personal updates online.
William grew up during his father’s long association with San Antonio basketball and later watched him become a head coach in Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Savoia Elizabeth “Libby” Budenholzer
Savoia Elizabeth Budenholzer, better known as Libby, is another of Budenholzer’s children.
She attended Alamo Heights High School in Texas and The Paideia School in Atlanta before continuing her education at the University of San Diego, according to earlier profiles. She was also associated with the Kappa Delta sorority during her college years.
Her name also has a family connection. Budenholzer’s mother was named Libby, making his daughter’s commonly used name particularly meaningful within the family.
Like her siblings, Libby has mostly stayed outside the sports media spotlight despite having a father who has coached some of the NBA’s biggest stars.
Hanna Louise Budenholzer
Hanna Louise Budenholzer is Mike and Mary Beth’s second daughter.
Hanna attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio and graduated in 2021. Earlier reports indicated that she planned to continue her studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
There are few verified details about her life today, which reflects the family’s preference for keeping most personal matters private.
While Budenholzer occasionally talks about his children during interviews or major career moments, he rarely gives detailed updates about their personal lives.
John Bent Budenholzer
John Bent, the youngest of Budenholzer’s four children, has perhaps the clearest basketball connection among the siblings.
John played basketball while attending Alamo Heights High School and graduated in 2024. His father’s season away from NBA coaching allowed him to attend John’s games much more regularly.
Budenholzer later described the experience of watching those games as a gift.
For a coach who had spent most of his adult life following an NBA calendar, simply driving home after one of his son’s games became something memorable. It was a very ordinary family experience, but Budenholzer spoke about it as something he had previously been missing.
Family Has Always Been Important to Mike Budenholzer
Budenholzer comes from a basketball family himself. Born in Holbrook, Arizona, he is the youngest of seven children of Vince and Libby Budenholzer. His father coached high school and college basketball in Arizona for decades and became an important influence on Mike’s own career.
That background helps explain why family frequently comes up during Budenholzer’s biggest professional moments.
When Phoenix hired him in 2024, his introductory press conference could easily have focused entirely on basketball. Instead, he began by acknowledging his children, Lisa, his father and his siblings.
His Phoenix tenure itself was short. The Suns finished 36-46 in the 2024-25 season and relieved Budenholzer of his coaching duties on April 14, 2025 after one season. He subsequently remained out of an NBA head-coaching position during the 2025-26 season.
That does not change what Budenholzer has already accomplished. He spent 17 seasons as a Spurs assistant under Gregg Popovich, became head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, won two NBA Coach of the Year awards and led the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship.
His family story has developed alongside that long career.
Mary Beth was part of his life during many of those earlier years and remains the mother of his four children. Lisa later became his partner and publicly stood beside him when he returned home to Arizona for the Suns job. His four children, meanwhile, have grown up while their father moved through some of basketball’s biggest organizations.
Today, the most accurate answer to the Mike Budenholzer wife question is a little more complicated than older biographies suggest. Mary Beth is his ex-wife and the mother of his four children, while Lisa is the partner Budenholzer publicly acknowledged in 2024. Mary Beth has since begun another chapter of her own, marrying Gregg Popovich in Texas on September 16, 2026.
Through coaching changes, championships and years spent on the road, Budenholzer’s comments suggest one thing has stayed remarkably consistent: when basketball finally stops for the day, family is still the part of life he values most.
