Buford (c) has been preparing for a new role by taking business/leadership courses at Stanford and DukeNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Spurs GM R.C. Buford after a little more than 15 years in the position is "getting prepared to bequeath the role" to Assistant GM Brian Wright, according to sources cited by Jabari Young of THE ATHLETIC. Wright will "report directly to Buford, who will officially get a new title that some around the NBA believe will be a role helping to oversee Spurs Sports & Entertainment." Buford has been "busy preparing for a new role over the last years taking business/leadership courses" at Stanford and Duke. Though Buford and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will "continue to oversee the team and have the final say, Wright's promotion to a position Buford held for more than a decade suggests he will have more authority when roster moves are collectively discussed, and more than likely obtain additional powers in the future" (THEATHLETIC.com, 7/19). In San Antonio, Tom Orsborn noted Buford, "long regarded as one of the NBA's top judges of talent," pioneered the practice of "scouring the globe for hidden gems." Buford's reported promotion would "mark the Spurs' second major change to their management structure in the past five months." The Spurs in March announced Peter J. Holt had "succeeded his mother," Julianna Hawn Holt, as Spurs Sports & Entertainment Chair & co-CEO (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 7/21).
