Quick Facts
Biography
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 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. 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 (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.