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The San Antonio Spurs are strengthening their ties to Victor Wembanyama’s homeland, announcing a new agreement Tuesday to have the French digital asset security firm Ledger be its new jersey sponsor. Ledger is based in Paris, where the Spurs played two games last season. The Spurs have long had an enormous following in France, with players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw playing for San Antonio before the team drafted Wembanyama in 2023. “This moment cements a decades-long history of international collaboration and growth by the Spurs organization, as the game of basketball has grown to touch every culture and continent,” said RC Buford, the CEO of Spurs Sports & Entertainment. It is a multi-year deal, but specific terms were not announced.
Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said Gregg Popovich coach has been aggressive in his recovery from a November stroke, with the team saying he continues to make progress. "All I can share is he's attacking his rehab in a way that ... you know Pop, you've observed him for years," Buford, one of the people closest to Popovich, said Wednesday. "The same resilience that he's shown over the course of our career as a coach, he's approaching his return in his rehab in an incredibly unique way. The relationships that he had with our former players and the care that they're sharing with him is amazing. And his improvement continues."
"We fully support the decision to postpone tomorrow’s Spurs-Lakers game," Spurs CEO RC Buford said in statement late Friday night. "It’s beyond heartbreaking to see the widespread devastation across the Los Angeles community. Our thoughts remain with all of those impacted by the wildfires, from families who have experienced incomprehensible loss to the first responders who continue to bravely fight on the front lines."
Matthew Tynan: Spoke briefly with RC Buford last night before the game. He said he hadn’t yet had a chance to see Pop since returning from out of town (assuming Spurs road trip), but was told this last week was a particularly good one in his recovery. Things trending in right direction.
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What better way to shed the team’s long-standing designation as a small market franchise than to cultivate one of the wealthiest cities in one of the fastest-growing areas in the country during one of its singular events? “We have a market that isn’t in the top 10 in the country,” R.C. Buford, CEO of Spurs Sports and Entertainment (SS&E) told The Athletic. “When we connect our San Antonio and Austin markets we become one of the major players in the professional sports community.
What were your initial impressions of Tony Parker when you first saw him play? And what was the setting? Mike Brown: “The first time I saw him play was when our front office, led by R.C. Buford, had us work him out at the pre-draft camp in Chicago [in 2001]. I thought he was just okay. He was fast, obviously. That stood out. But he really couldn’t shoot the ball well. He didn’t have a medium game. We had put him in through some drills, and we just didn’t know what he would bring to the table. After that first workout, the coaching staff wasn’t really that high on him. We liked him, but he didn’t have a great workout. RC Buford and Sam Presti were the ones that convinced all of us to take a second look at him."
RC Buford has spent nearly a decade plotting this. He’s been all over the world, visiting 200 places, seeing what works for other teams. Ideas kept coming, not just from the basketball landscape, but from skiing and soccer and eSports and cycling and even Formula One. Hour after hour, day after day, he became more consumed by the idea and more immersed into how to make it reality. His task is almost done. The San Antonio Spurs — just in time for No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season — are about to get a new practice home, one that might be among the most advanced in the world.
It’s called The Rock at La Cantera, which will host the Spurs’ soon-to-be-ready new facility as part of what will be a $500 million complex by the time all the building at the site is completed. It’s not just a practice gym with a big locker room and some toys; it’s going to be part of what the team envisions as a “global center for excellence in human and athletic performance” — not to mention a massive commitment to the city of San Antonio. “We’re not trying to build this to be the best in the NBA,” said Buford, the Spurs’ CEO and part of all five of the franchise’s championship runs. “We’re going to build this for our needs and to have the best environment we can to help develop the Spurs’ culture. It’s not about being better or worse than anybody.”
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Marc Stein: Spurs CEO R.C. Buford turned 63 today. Just caught up with him after San Antonio won the right to draft Victor Wembanyama on June 22 and a giddy Buford confirmed that, yes indeed, this is his all-time top birthday present. More to come from Chicago: marcstein.substack.com
"His energy, his personality, his approach were all infectious," said Spurs CEO R.C. Buford, who went on multiple international scouting trips with Blanks and whose kids became lifelong friends with Blanks' daughters."It was always incredible to sit back and watch the way he impacted people."
One day in 2001, the Spurs needed someone to help evaluate a skinny French teenager who was in town for a draft workout. According to legend, Blanks put on a pair of shorts, played the kid one-on-one, and wore Tony Parker out so badly that the team wondered if he’d ever make it. "Lance was so competitive, he came out with something to prove," Buford said. "He was looking for a contract."
R.C. Buford addressed those concerns in a rare wide-ranging session with the media, which lasted 15-plus minutes. “The commitment from the Holt family to San Antonio is there, continues to be there, will always be there,” he said. “I think if you have gone out to see our new human performance campus at The Rock at La Cantera, that is a financial commitment and an emotional commitment to our community that is our home. … I don’t know how we can say any stronger San Antonio is home.”
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