San Antonio Spurs: What will R.C. Buford do in new role?

After 15-plus years as the San Antonio Spurs’ general manager, R.C. Buford will be the C.E.O. of Spurs Sports & Entertainment. What will that new role entail?

The San Antonio Spurs shook up the top of their organizational structure when it was reported that R.C. Buford would be taking on a new role within the organization and Brian Wright would become the new general manager.

We didn’t know exactly what Buford’s “new role” would be when the news was first reported by The Athletic’s Jabari Young, but we have since learned that he will become the C.E.O. of Spurs Sports & Entertainment starting on September 3rd.

Those weren’t the only moves made within the front office as several other members of the organization received promotions this offseason.

Rick Psych and Lawrence Payne will now be strategic advisors after Psych served as the organization’s president and co-C.E.O. since 2016 and Payne was previously an executive vice president of the franchise.

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Lori Warren and Bobby Perez were then promoted to executive vice president positions after Warren previously held the title of senior vice president of corporate finance and brand strategy while Perez served as Spurs Sports & Entertainment’s senior vice president of general counsel and corporate relations in his previous role.

The Spurs haven’t gone on record with what R.C. Buford will be doing in his new C.E.O. seat, but Spurs Sports & Entertainment Chairman Peter J. Holt gave this quote in the organization’s press release announcing the new moves:

“RC Buford is one of the most highly-respected leaders in professional sports,” said Holt. “His vision, innovation and drive have helped shape our values and culture. We are thrilled to have RC leading the organization into the future.”

Buford’s new role will likely lessen his influence on the day-to-day basketball operations of the club, and he will almost certainly not be going overseas many times a year to scout as he did this season before selecting Luka Samanic.

Buford worked his way up in the organization due to his outstading scouting skills, but he will now be tasked with setting the culture for the entire franchise moving forward and he’ll be working on more big-picture tasks than he did during his days as general manager.

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While the Spurs will miss his basketball accumen in their day-to-day roster moves, Buford will still be incredibly important in how this organization operates and attempts to maintain their greatness of the past two decades.