R. C. Buford

R. C. Buford
San Antonio Spurs
Position General manager
League NBA
Personal information
Born October 1960 (age 57–58)
Career highlights and awards
As executive

Robert Canterbury 'R.C.' Buford (born 1960) is an American basketball executive, currently general manager of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named general manager in 2002 after five seasons as team president. Buford is also the president of sports franchises for Spurs Sports & Entertainment. Buford has won the NBA Executive of the Year award twice, for the 2013–14 and 2015–16 seasons.

Early career

Buford played college basketball at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, though he had a limited career.[1] He received his degree from Friends University.[2] Prior to joining the Spurs in 1988, Buford spent five seasons at the University of Kansas and was a member of the coaching staff when the Jayhawks won the 1988 NCAA Championship.

NBA executive career

Buford first joined the Spurs in the summer of 1988 as an assistant coach on Larry Brown's staff. He spent four seasons as an assistant with the Spurs, including the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons when the team captured back-to-back Midwest Division titles. In the summer of 1992, he became the number-one assistant for Brown with the Los Angeles Clippers. He spent one season with the Clippers before moving to the University of Florida for the 1993–94 season.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich then hired Buford as the Spurs' Head Scout in the summer of 1994 and he has been with the team since that time. In the summer of 1997, he was named the Spurs Director of Scouting and then two years later was promoted to the position of vice president/assistant general manager.

Buford has won five NBA championships with the Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), four as general manager (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014).

Buford won the 2013–14 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year award on May 7, 2014,[3] and later won the same honor for the 2015-16 season.[4]

Personal life

His son, Chase Buford, played basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks and now works for the Chicago Bulls.[5] His daughter, C.C Buford, who played golf for College of Charleston, now coaches at Campbell University.[6]

On November 4, 2011, Buford was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after crashing into a fence.[7]

References

  1. ↑ The Buford Way: Spurs' architect stays in shadows - USATODAY.com
  2. ↑ MIT Sloan Sports Business Conference: Panels
  3. ↑ San Antonio’s R.C. Buford Earns 2013-14 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award
  4. ↑ http://www.nba.com/2016/news/05/09/san-antonio-spurs-r-c-buford-wins-executive-of-the-year/
  5. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/chase-buford-65050735
  6. ↑ https://www.gocamels.com/news/2017/6/29/6_29_2017_9219.aspx?path=wgolf
  7. ↑ "Report: Spurs GM R.C. Buford arrested for DWI". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
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