Robert Canterbury Buford (born 1960) is an American basketball executive, currently CEO of the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He was named general manager in 2002 after five seasons serving 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, before his promotion to CEO before the start of the 2019–20 season.

Early career

Buford played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, though he had a limited career. He received his degree from

Friends University Friends University is a private nondenominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas. It was founded in 1898. The main building was originally built in 1886 for Garfield University but was donated in 1898 to the Religious Society of Friend ...

. Prior to joining the Spurs in 1988, Buford spent five seasons at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

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 The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. He spent one season with the Clippers before moving to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

for the 1993–94 season. Spurs general manager

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Taking over as coach of the Spur ...

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 in 1999 was promoted to the position of assistant general manager. He was named general manager in 2002. Buford has won five NBA championships with the Spurs (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, 2003, 2005, 2007,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

), four as general manager ( 2003, 2005, 2007,

). Buford won the 2013–14 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year award on May 7, 2014, and later won the same honor for the 2015–16 season. On July 23, 2019, the Spurs announced Buford will be promoted from general manager to CEO for the Spurs, effective September 3. His previous role will be filled by assistant general manager Brian Wright.

Personal life

His son Chase played basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks and now is the head coach of the NBL team, the Sydney Kings. His daughter C.C., who played golf for the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

, now coaches at East Carolina University.

References

External links

General Managers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buford, R. C. 1960 births Living people Friends University alumni Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball coaches Los Angeles Clippers assistant coaches National Basketball Association general managers Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players San Antonio Spurs assistant coaches San Antonio Spurs executives Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players American men's basketball players