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Buford focused on the game as best he could while Presti pestered him about his future. “I was going up the court on the side, saying, ‘I’d really like to do this.’ “Then we’d get to the other end of the court and he’d say, ‘Why would you want to do this?’ “We’d go back down the court and I’d say, ‘This is what I want to do; this is my dream.’” San Antonio Express-News

Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Sam Presti 

"With (general manager) R.C. Buford helping him, finding people left and right. I mean, they draft people in the second round that nobody gives them a shot and they turn them into players. They have an amazing franchise and they really do a great job finding people that play well in their system and Pop makes them believe in their system. They're really fun to watch, they're rolling." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Dirk Nowitzki, RC Buford, Gregg Popovich 

Privately, Spurs management will be the first to confess that they let themselves get swept away in the NBA's arms race. Three years ago, they watched the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics winning championships with four and five elite players, and believed they had to find a big-money fourth player to surround Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. They made the mistake of trading for Richard Jefferson and the $29 million still owed on his contract three years ago, and they paid a price for it. “All the really good teams at that time who were paying the top-end salaries – the Lakers and Boston – didn’t just have two or three good players,” Buford told Yahoo! Sports. “They had more than that, and we tried to answer it.” Yahoo! Sports

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford 

As Buford said, “What happened with Pop’s approach to the season was this: We didn’t have practice time to prepare a group who hadn’t been used to playing together. But by not over-extending minutes for our top five players, that ability to develop came in game action to give us a much deeper team. “But, listen, Pop is not doing any of this without including Tim, Tony and Manu. They had to be a part of this. This isn’t something that’s new to this season. Pop’s reduced minutes for all these guys for the last couple years. But I think there’s an appreciation there with [Duncan, Parker and Ginobili] that this can help to extend their careers.” Yahoo! Sports

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford 

Gregg Popovich has been selected as the NBA’s Coach of the Year and Spurs general manager R.C. Buford earned the NBA’s Executive of the Year in balloting for the league’s awards by readers and writers of Hoops Hype.com. San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Spurs, Coaching, RC Buford, Gregg Popovich 

San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford didn't have to watch his sister Anne's film "Elevate" to know how good the basketball talent in Africa is. But the film, which has become a favorite on the film festival circuit, is putting that skill level out there on a national stage. Buford thinks that's great, but he also thinks the film hits on a bigger theme. He wants the focus to be on the importance not only of finding basketball talent, but also giving back to the communities by helping to educate the youth and lend a hand wherever needed. "I'm not surprised the NBA has become a global game at all," said Buford, one the film's executive producers. "The mission for this talent evaluation is important. I don't think we can be totally selfish and think we can look and find talent when we go over there. We have to be more philanthropic in nature. We have to see what we can bring to them." FOXSports SouthWest

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford 

While the film focuses strictly on Senegal, R.C. Buford said there's talent all over the continent of Africa, from Senegal to Congo to Chad to the Ivory Coast to Angola. R.C. Buford is also protective of the country. He knows high school, college and NBA coaches will look anywhere they can for talent. But he also thinks those who scout in Africa need to see the bigger picture. "I don't think you can be limited to one mission over there," R.C. Buford said. "There can be multiple agendas. If we're going to reap the benefits of natural resources, we have to be mindful of what we're going. We have to go in there with a development perspective and not be focused on mining the finished product." FOXSports SouthWest

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford 

Art Garcia: Spurs won't get big man help from retiring Antonio McDyess. RC Buford: “It was truly a pleasure to have him in SA the last 2 seasons." Twitter

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Antonio McDyess 

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford has been charged with driving while intoxicated after his arrest late Friday night near downtown San Antonio. A brief statement released by the Spurs on Saturday says Buford was involved in a single-car accident Friday night. The statement said Buford is a Type 1 diabetic and that the incident was precipitated by a "severe low blood sugar reaction." ESPN.com

San Antonio Spurs, Law, RC Buford 

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after he crashed into a fence, San Antonio Police said. A police spokesman confirmed Buford was arrested after crashing into the fence in the 500 block of N. Leona just west of downtown late Friday night. The police department said an officer from the Bexar County Hospital District first responded to the scene. SAPD then arrested Buford. KSAT.com

San Antonio Spurs, Law, RC Buford 

Court documents say Buford was booked into Bexar County Jail at 3:38 a.m. Saturday. He was released on a $2,500 bond. Kens5.com

San Antonio Spurs, Law, RC Buford 

Jeff McDonald: Spurs send out release acknowledging DUI/open container arrest of GM RC Buford last night. One-car accident. No injuries. Plus ... Twitter

San Antonio Spurs, Law, RC Buford 

Jeff McDonald: ... release also states Buford, who is a Type 1 diabetic, had a "low blood-sugar reaction" preceding the accident. Twitter

San Antonio Spurs, Law, RC Buford 

OKC has managed to put a pretty good team around Kevin Durant without breaking any banks; to the contrary, the Thunder have structured contracts with Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins that go down in the years to come, not up, freeing up funds that can be used to extend Durant and Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. How did Sam Presti do this? Ouija board? Short-selling on the stock market? He did it the same way R.C. Buford did it in San Antonio, and the way Joe Dumars did it in Detroit when he built a champion in 2004 out of parts other teams didn't care for, and the way Donnie Walsh did it in Indiana for, oh, 20 years, and the way Kevin O'Connor does it in Utah this morning. Draft the right guys. Sign the right guys. Trade for the right guys. And pay the right guys the right amount of money. NBA.com

Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Sam Presti, Joe Dumars, Lockout 

In July, RC Buford, president of sports franchises for Spurs Sports & Entertainment, traveled to the Middle East to participate in a series of clinics for PeacePlayers International (PPI). He was joined by Sam Presti, executive vice president of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chad Ford, ESPN columnist and professor of conflict resolution at BYU-Hawaii, and Brendan Tuohey, the founder and executive director of PeacePlayers International. PeacePlayers International (PPI) was founded in 2001 by brothers Sean and Brendan Tuohey on the premise that “children who can player together can learn to live together.” The mission of the organization is to unite and educate children in divided countries through basketball. Since its creation PPI has reached more than 52,000 participants in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Cyprus and the Middle East. NBA.com

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Israel 

We worked with a group of 12 girls, ages 10-to-12, all of whom have grown up in the camp. None of the girls had athletic shoes, they were modestly dressed and wore head-coverings in the grueling heat. Still they seemed thrilled to interact and learn from us. We all cooled down with ice cream, which was a treat for everyone. This experience reminded me that even in cases where we cannot bring Palestinian and Israelis together, PPI-ME is giving children hope while equipping them with essential athletic and life skills for their future. After a long day we had a traditional meal in a classic Palestinian restaurant. We started with dozens of salads and appetizers, including vegetables, hummus, tehini and fried cheese. This was followed by an enormous plate of mixed grilled meats and french fries. As is customary in the summer in Israel and Palestine we finished the meal with cold watermelon. NBA.com

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Israel 

Tony Parker: Pop and RC Buford have made a lot of changes, but I believe in their ability to make good decisions. 20minutes.fr

San Antonio Spurs, Tony Parker, RC Buford 

Spurs owner Peter Holt always insisted: He was going down with Duncan. It was admirable, fitting and just. Only now, the time has come. The Spurs are going down with Tim Duncan. One year ago this week, Holt watched the Spurs sputter through most of the regular season, cling to the seventh seed and still beat an old rival, the Dallas Mavericks, in the first round of the playoffs. It was a magnificent victory, validating for the Gregg Popovich and RC Buford regime because it convinced them they were justified in staying with the program. “We looked at the history of all this, and asked, ‘Should we try this or not?’ ” Holt told me. “And we realized – it’s worth it. Let’s keep doing it – transitioning without crashing. That’s what we’re trying to do, but also our goal is to win a championship this year so we said, ‘Let’s go after it again.’ ” Yahoo! Sports

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan 

With training camp scheduled to open in four weeks, the Spurs on Monday opened their practice facility gym to potential training camp invitees. Among the first to participate in open gym workouts: Jawad Williams and Thomas Gardner. San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Jawad Williams, Thomas Gardner 

The Spurs' new vice-president of basketball operations, Danny Ferry, is well familiar with Williams, whom he signed when he was the Cavs' general manager. Gardner, a 6-5 swing man, played the past two seasons in Belgium. He played collegiately at Missouri and had one brief NBA stint, signing a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls late in the 2006-07 season. "We're going to be looking at a lot of guys over the next few weeks," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "Eventually, we'll decide on the players we want to bring to camp." San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Spurs, RC Buford, Jawad Williams