R. C. Buford

R. C. Buford
Born	1960 (age 63–64)
Education	Oklahoma State University Texas A&M University Friends University
Employer	San Antonio Spurs
Title	General Manager
Term	2002–present
Predecessor	Gregg Popovich
Spouse(s)	Beth

Robert Canterbury "R. C." Buford (born 1960) is an American general manager for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named GM in 2002 after five seasons as team president. Buford is also the president of sports franchises for Spurs Sports & Entertainment. Buford won the NBA Executive of the Year award for the 2013-14 season.

Early career

Buford played college basketball at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, though he had a limited career. He received his degree from Friends University. 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.

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, four as general manager (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014).

Buford won the 2013–14 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year award on May 7, 2014.

Notable trades

• Steve Kerr, traded for Antonio Daniels in 2002.
• Leandro Barbosa's draft rights, traded for David Lee's draft rights to Phoenix Suns in 2003, which was later traded to the New York Knicks in 2005.
• Nazr Mohammed, traded for Malik Rose in 2005.
• Matt Bonner, traded for Rasho Nesterovic in 2006.
• Jackie Butler, traded for Luis Scola's draft rights to Houston Rockets for Vassilis Spanoulis in 2007.
• Goran Dragic's draft rights, traded to the Phoenix Suns for Malik Hairston's draft rights in 2008.
• Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto, traded for Richard Jefferson in 2009.
• George Hill, traded to the Indiana Pacers for Kawhi Leonard's draft rights in 2011.
• T. J. Ford and Richard Jefferson, traded for Stephen Jackson in 2012.

Notable draft picks

• Leandro Barbosa in the first round with the 28th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft, later traded to Phoenix.
• Beno Udrih in the first round with the 28th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft.
• Ian Mahinmi in the first round with the 28th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft.
• Tiago Splitter in the first round with the 28th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft; did not play with the Spurs until 2010.
• George Hill in the first round with the 26th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft.
• DeJuan Blair in the second round with the 37th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft.
• James Anderson in the first round with the 20th overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft.
• Cory Joseph in the first round with the 29th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft.

Notable signings

• Manu Ginobili, drafted as the 57th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, but did not enter the NBA until 2002.
• Rasho Nesterovic
• Robert Horry
• Brent Barry
• Glenn Robinson
• Fabricio Oberto
• Nick Van Exel
• Michael Finley
• Tiago Splitter, drafted as the 27th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, but did not enter the NBA until 2010.
• Damon Stoudamire
• Roger Mason, Jr.
• Antonio McDyess
• Gary Neal
• Danny Green
• T. J. Ford
• Boris Diaw
• Patty Mills
• Tracy McGrady
• Marco Belinelli
• LaMarcus Aldridge
• David West

Coaching tree

Since Buford took over as general manager for Gregg Popovich in 2002, the team has also produced head coaches and executives around the NBA:

• Mike Brown, Spurs assistant coach for 2000–2003, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach 2005-10, 2013–14, Los Angeles Lakers head coach 2011–12.
• P. J. Carlesimo, Spurs assistant coach for 2002–2007, Portland Trail Blazers head coach 1994-1997, Golden State Warriors head coach 1997-99, Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder head coach 2007-08, Brooklyn Nets interim head coach 2012-13.
• Mike Budenholzer, Spurs assistant coach for 1996–2013, Atlanta Hawks head coach 2013–present.
• Avery Johnson, former Spurs player 1991, 1994–2001, Dallas Mavericks head coach 2004-08, 2006 Coach of the Year, 2010-12 New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets
• Vinny Del Negro, former Spurs player 1992-1998, Chicago Bulls head coach 2008-10, Los Angeles Clippers head coach 2010-13.
• Monty Williams, former Spurs player 1996-1998, New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans head coach 2010–present.
• Jacque Vaughn, former Spurs player 2006–2009, Spurs assistant coach 2010-12, Orlando Magic head coach 2012–present.
• Brett Brown, Spurs assistant coach 2007-2013, Philadelphia 76ers head coach 2013–present.
• Steve Kerr, former Spurs player 1999-2001, 2002-2003, Golden State Warriors head coach 2014–present.
• Sam Presti, Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder general manager 2007–present.
• Danny Ferry, former Spurs player 2000-2003, middle management level at Spurs 2003-05, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager 2005-10, Spurs Vice President of Basketball Operations 2010–12, Atlanta Hawks general manager 2012–2015.
• Dell Demps, former Spurs player 1995–1996, New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans general manager 2010–present.
• Kevin Pritchard, Spurs scout 2001–2003, Indiana Pacers general manager 2011–present.
• Lance Blanks, Spurs scout 2000–2002, Phoenix Suns general manager 2010–13.

Personal life

His son, Chase Buford, played basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks.

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

External links

• General Managers
• Spurs promote R.C. Buford to senior vice president