Spurs GM arrested for DWI

[tw05baller]

http://www.ksat.com/news/29692666/detail.html

[benefactor]

He must have dropped Pop off before the accident.

[Leetonidas]

Not classy R.C. :td

...unless the open container was some of Pop's 100 year old wine, then it's a very classy DWI.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?

[DeadlyDynasty]

Drunk Drive for Five!

[Blake]

open container?

people will never learn.

[Bruno]

Honest question: was RC drunk last summer when he gave these contracts to RJ and Bonner last summer?

[benefactor]

open container?

people will never learn.
For real...I stopped doing that not long after I was old enough to actually buy alcohol.

[silverblk mystix]

fuckin' Bonner....

[MR.SILVER&BLack]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?
sounds like spurs are turning into the lakers.

[xtremesteven33]

Maybe he couldnt afford a cab

[objective]

Honest question: was RC drunk last summer when he gave these contracts to RJ and Bonner last summer?

Wouldn't doubt that it goes back to that awful summer of 2007, when he first chose Bonner over Scola. I know you don't like Scola, but even you would have to admit that Scola >>>>>>>> Bonner. Then Finley. Hmmmm.

I wonder if Jeff McDonald will avoid this story.

[I. Hustle]

LOL I was drinking with him at the event. Tim was there too but they were at different tables. It was open bar so that didn't help.

[ChuckD]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?

At least no one chased our signature player away from the franchise. I'd be completely ashamed if Ice felt he had been driven out by some current regime and had to take his wares on the road to Memphis or Golden State. Real class, LA.

[baseline bum]

At least it explains the Scola trade.

[baseline bum]

Pop probably told him he was starting Bonner over Splitter this season. Would drive me to alcoholism too tbh.

[Tuddy]

Maybe he couldnt afford a cab

[Libri]

So he finally realized that signing Jefferson was a mistake. Damn, it took him a awhile.

[baseline bum]

Can't wait for the faggot SA press to act like RC should be fired now.

[ElNono]

:drunk

[LakerHater]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?


sounds like spurs are turning into the lakers.

[slick'81]

wow:nope way to go rc not only did u resign rj and bon bon but now this?!?! ferry time to move on up

[DesignatedT]

Pretty legit if you ask me.

[Kori Ellis]

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/33118425

Buford is the third member of his family to be arrested for mixing drinking and driving in the last 30 months.

Back in February 2011, Alexis Mang-Ikri Wangmene, a University of Texas basketball player from Cameroon, was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Austin. Buford was serving as Wangmene's legal guardian, according to MyFoxAustin.com. Back in July 2009, Chase Buford, R.C.'s son, was arrested on DUI charges in Lawrence, Kansas, where he was a member of the University of Kansas Jayhawks basketball team, according to KMBC.com.

[DeadlyDynasty]

At least no one chased our signature player away from the franchise. I'd be completely ashamed if Ice felt he had been driven out by some current regime and had to take his wares on the road to Memphis or Golden State. Real class, LA.

You seem pretty upset, chuck. Wanna talk about it?

[PM5K]

the event involving buford, who is a type 1 diabetic, was precipitated by a severe low blood sugar reaction.

smh

[m>s]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?
neal was accused of molesting a female schoolmate which he never did

[Das Texan]

Pop probably told him he was starting Bonner over Splitter this season. Would drive me to alcoholism too tbh.


dont forget being told that dick jefferson was gonna play about 38 minutes a night.

[blkroadrunners]

No suprise really.

[Giuseppe]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?

:lmao:lmao:lmao

[DeadlyDynasty]

neal was accused of molesting a female schoolmate which he never did

He sodomized a coed while she was puking into a sink.

[mavsfan1000]

No more Spurs=Class I guess. :(

[LkrFan]

LOL (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/05/report-spurs-gm-r-c-buford-arrested-for-dui/) @classy GM. :tu

[ElNono]

“I take great pride in being a positive member of our community and deeply regret this incident. I apologize to our community, our fans and the entire Spurs family,” Buford said.

classy presser :cry :cry :cry

[Giuseppe]

He sodomized a coed while she was puking into a sink.

You goddamn rights he did.

[elemento]

Now we all know how the 4y/39m to Dick Jefferson happened. :lmao

[wildbill2u]

For real...I stopped doing that not long after I was old enough to actually buy alcohol.

Obviously you've never enjoyed a dove hunt.
Nothing like a cold beer on the way home.

[urunobili]

At least it explains the Scola trade.


No more Spurs=Class I guess. :(

:toast

:depressed

:bang

[dbestpro]

He sodomized a coed while she was puking into a sink.

As usual the facts are embellished by a Laker fan. Doggie style with a willing participant is not sodomizing and raping or maybe the later is just common place in Laker land (see Kobe).

[Giuseppe]

No, no, db, Neal sodomized the girl as she was puking in the sink.

Stings, but, the guy can make a 3 pointer pretty good. It's okay, buddy, she was nobody anyway.

[ChumpDumper]

You'd think lakerfan would know what sodomy is.

[Giuseppe]

^Your Neal does.

[ChumpDumper]

^Your Neal does.Depends on the definition you want to use. Pretty much everyone has been guilty of it if the broadest definition is used.

So I'll just say all the Lakers and their fans are sodomites.

[ChuckD]

You seem pretty upset, chuck. Wanna talk about it?

Actually, the weird thing is that Laker fan ISN"T upset that The Logo was sent packing. Shameful.

[ElNono]

We'll see what happens with R.C... if this was a player, he would've had his ass shipped out ASAP...

[baseline bum]

We'll see what happens with R.C... if this was a player, he would've had his ass shipped out ASAP...

Huh? If it's DerMarr Johnson, then yeah... but if it was Manu Ginobili? Not seeing that.

[Buddy Holly]

We'll see what happens with R.C... if this was a player, he would've had his ass shipped out ASAP...

So if Tim or Manu or Tony get a DWI they're shipped out? lol

Please stop with the senseless hyperbole.

RC is one of the best, and some say, the best GM in the business. Nothing is going to happen to him, and with the NBA in lockout mode all will be forgotten by the time the NBA returns and he gets tv face time.

[ploto]

If he truly has Type 1 Diabetes, he should not be drinking, especially not to the level that it would impact his blood sugar so badly that he can not drive without crashing into a fence.

[ElNono]

Huh? If it's DerMarr Johnson, then yeah... but if it was Manu Ginobili? Not seeing that.


So if Tim or Manu or Tony get a DWI they're shipped out? lol

Please stop with the senseless hyperbole.

tbh, I expect Tim and Manu to be smart enough not to drink and drive, especially at this point in their lives. Then again, I expected the same from RC, and I didn't even know he had type 1 diabetes...

And the "he's the best GM blah blah blah" talk is besides the point. He's lucky he didn't kill somebody out there.

[ElNono]

Holt will understand.

:lol

[Kori Ellis]

If he truly has Type 1 Diabetes, he should not be drinking, especially not to the level that it would impact his blood sugar so badly that he can not drive without crashing into a fence.

That's what I was thinking.

Anyway, the Spurs are hypocrites if they don't do something about it. I don't care if he's one of the best GMs in the league -- they supposedly have standards for people in the organization. Having an open container in the car and driving drunk is an embarrassment -- blood sugar issues aside. Really...who drives with an open container?

[Bruno]

Holt saying to players that they "haven't felt enough pain" also hurt Spurs image of being a good franchise. Holt being a hardliner owner could be understandable but this kind of talk is inexcusable when there are so much at stakes with the lockout.

[baseline bum]

That's what I was thinking.

Anyway, the Spurs are hypocrites if they don't do something about it. I don't care if he's one of the best GMs in the league -- they supposedly have standards for people in the organization. Having an open container in the car and driving drunk is an embarrassment -- blood sugar issues aside. Really...who drives with an open container?

So the Spurs are hypocrites then. Replacing RC went out the window once they let Presti walk to Seattle.

[ElNono]

So the Spurs are hypocrites then. Replacing RC went out the window once they let Presti walk to Seattle.

We never replaced Presti, tbh...

[Kori Ellis]

So the Spurs are hypocrites then. Replacing RC went out the window once they let Presti walk to Seattle.

I didn't say they should replace him. I just don't think brushing it over with a low blood sugar excuse is the way to go either.

[ElNono]

Hanging him upside-down naked during the rodeo so people can throw beer bottles at him would be a good first step...

[Das Texan]

I didn't say they should replace him. I just don't think brushing it over with a low blood sugar excuse is the way to go either.

They need to do something akin to fining him with the money going to whatever alcohol awareness charity and many hours of community service (he has plenty of time to get this done also right now anyway)

[Nathan89]

Holt saying to players that they "haven't felt enough pain" also hurt Spurs image of being a good franchise. Holt being a hardliner owner could be understandable but this kind of talk is inexcusable when there are so much at stakes with the lockout.

There is nothing wrong with that statement, IMHO because it is the truth. Stupid to say it but not something that should reflect in any way on the Spurs.

[Giuseppe]

The Skunker
Neal raped
8
Barry nuttin' Mrs. Longoria
Your GM drunk as a skunk

:lmao:lmao:lmao

[ChumpDumper]

Can't even get your gossip right.

[Cane]

This is what happens in the lockout. GM's can't rely on rookies to drive them around after a few drinks :downspin:


That's what I was thinking.

Anyway, the Spurs are hypocrites if they don't do something about it. I don't care if he's one of the best GMs in the league -- they supposedly have standards for people in the organization. Having an open container in the car and driving drunk is an embarrassment -- blood sugar issues aside. Really...who drives with an open container?

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/11/2009/07/504x_parker_03.jpg

;)

Anyway I agree with ya. Imo the Spurs will probably keep the punishment internal and I wouldn't be surprised if Buford got fined or some shit and has to do more community stuff, basically what Das Texan said. Disappointing stuff from Buford.

[badfish22]

lol spurs

[Libri]

Hanging him upside-down naked during the rodeo so people can throw beer bottles at him would be a good first step...

Call me old fashioned, but I'm more in favor of punishment of the good old days, tar and feathers.

[DPG21920]

Spurs are a classy organization, but you have to understand context and value. Even though they are considered a classy organization by professional sports standards, it's only because this is an area of the business world that is marred by pretty scummy people in general. So even though they are classy in the professional sports world, they still have their fair share of dirt.

Also, they do have a set of standards, but in this league where it's a fine line between who makes it or not, if you are one of those "cusp" guys, you don't get to make these types of mistakes. If you are the elite, you get a little more freedom and that's not hypocritical to me.

[baseline bum]

I didn't say they should replace him. I just don't think brushing it over with a low blood sugar excuse is the way to go either.

I can't see any other kind of punishment they could really deliver. They could give a monetary fine, but that would just be looked at as a slap on the wrist by everyone. You can't suspend the GM for 5-10 games like you could a player who does something equally stupid. The blood sugar excuse was hilarious; how could anyone ever say that to the press with a straight face when RC was busted with an open container? :lol

[Giuseppe]

Spurs are a classy organization

Not for a couple years. You guys are in a tailspin:::

Neal raped
The Longorias wife swapped
Your GM is a drunk driver

:nope

[DPG21920]

:rolleyes

[Giuseppe]

:rolleyes

It's weird though, huh. The shoe is on the other foot now. Everything we did, your team has now done:::

Buss drove drunk...check
Kobe raped...check
Me & Kevin wife swapped...check

:(

[Killakobe81]

DWI is not cool ...many innocent people are victims to dumbasses that DWU ...but he didnt kill anyone. hopefully he learned his lesson. if he does not ...I hope he gets caught next time and does time. But as it stands, all he did was embarass himself his close family and his franchise a little bit. No biggie.

[baseline bum]

It's weird though, huh. The shoe is on the other foot now. Everything we did, your team has now done:::

Buss drove drunk...check
Kobe raped...check
Me & Kevin wife swapped...check

:(

You forgot Kermit Washington turning a guy's face into a catcher's mitt. Spurs still have the class advantage by a mile.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

So the Spurs are hypocrites then. Replacing RC went out the window once they let Presti walk to Seattle.

Wasn't Holt in and out of rehab a couple of years ago for alcoholism?

[ElNono]

Wasn't Holt in and out of rehab a couple of years ago for alcoholism?

yes

[Giuseppe]

You forgot Kermit Washington turning a guy's face into a catcher's mitt. Spurs still have the class advantage by a mile.

I'd bring up the Robinson Fiasco, but, I won't kick ya when you're so down, Bum. You deserve a break, sweetheart.

Pappy says so.

[DPG21920]

Watch it ^

[Giuseppe]

^You & Aunt Kori are quite a relative tandem.

[Giuseppe]

They lie, they rape, they steal, they cheat, and now they drink and drive then lie about it. This is good for them. Its like taking an ear of corn and shoving up their asses. They deserve it more than any bunch ive seen.

If anyone deserves that particular treatment it's Deepy.

Deeps, bend over.

[ChumpDumper]

More homo lakerfan imagery.

[Buddy Holly]

Lame ass Lakers fan is lame.

[Seventyniner]

DWI is not cool ...many innocent people are victims to dumbasses that DWU ...but he didnt kill anyone. hopefully he learned his lesson. if he does not ...I hope he gets caught next time and does time. But as it stands, all he did was embarass himself his close family and his franchise a little bit. No biggie.

Perhaps the most reasonable post I've seen in this thread.

I heard one time that in Germany, if you're caught driving drunk, you get your license taken away for life, no reinstatement, and that penalties for driving without a license are really harsh. Is that true?

[I. Hustle]

Perhaps the most reasonable post I've seen in this thread.

I heard one time that in Germany, if you're caught driving drunk, you get your license taken away for life, no reinstatement, and that penalties for driving without a license are really harsh. Is that true?

Yet they have removable bottle openers attached to the cupholders

[Giuseppe]

and that penalties for driving without a license are really harsh. Is that true?

Not since Hitler died.

[lefty]

Signing a rapist
Players sleeping with (ex) teammates' wives
Drunk driving


Is this the end of "spurs=class" as we know it?
WHat a funny, clever post

:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao :lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao

[Kori Ellis]

http://www.ksat.com/news/29703314/detail.html


R.C. Buford, 51, was arrested about 11 p.m. Friday in the downtown area, near Martin and Pecos-La Trinidad Streets, after police received a call about him hitting a fence and leaving the scene, the report said.

Another witness reported seeing him driving in circles in a parking lot.


The report said police obtained a search warrant to withdraw blood for testing after Buford refused to give a sample voluntarily.

Additionally, it said police seized 1.3 grams of a prescription drug, described as a narcotic, which Buford told them he takes for his diabetes.


:rolleyes narcotics for diabetes :rolleyes

[ElNono]

They do prescribe them for pain, but they rarely, if ever, are the 1st choice.

It makes him look like a druggie regardless :lol

[cantthinkofanything]

They do prescribe them for pain, but they rarely, if ever, are the 1st choice.

It makes him look like a druggie regardless :lol

Wouldn't they have described it by pill amount instead of gram weight?

[ElNono]

Wouldn't they have described it by pill amount instead of gram weight?

Maybe he had morphine and a few syringes.... diabetes!!!!! :lol

[z0sa]

Lol

[baseline bum]

http://www.ksat.com/news/29703314/detail.html





:rolleyes narcotics for diabetes :rolleyes

Cut the man some slack, Kori; he was too drunk to make up a good excuse on the spot.

[Taco]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/mediaManager/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=1732914&width=628&height=471

In is mug shot he looks like the little boy who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and daddy's coming with the belt !

[TimmehC]

Heard in the police interview room: "Wouldn't you want to be drunk if you gave $56 million to RJ and Bonner?"

[Kori Ellis]

Since this is related to RC (it's about his sister), I'll just put it here:

Dribbles (http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/david_aldridge/11/07/remembering-magic-johnson-hiv-announcement/?ls=iref:nbahpt1)

Initially, Anne Buford's only job was to bring the donuts.

Her big brother, R.C., called her one day in 2004. She was in New York, having risen to positions of great prominence in the fashion world -- as a top editor and, then, corporate spokeswoman for Vogue magazine and its legendary editor, Anna Wintour (Meryl Streep's star turn in "The Devil Wears Prada" is an homage to Wintour). Following that, she became the spokeswoman for Polo Ralph Lauren. But R.C., whom you know in another context as the general manager of the San Antonio Spurs, wanted her to reach out to a young man from Cameroon: Alexis Wangmene, who was in town with his basketball team, the African junior national team. R.C. Buford and his wife were planning to adopt Wangmene (which they eventually did) and wanted his little sister to welcome the young man to the States.

So she brought donuts for him and his teammates. They were from all over Africa, tall and young, many with the same dreams that kids in America had -- to somehow overcome the odds and play in the NBA. When she was done visiting with them, she was curious. Where were they from? What were their lives like back home?

She wanted to meet more of them. Bugging R.C. at every opportunity, she finally got him to introduce her to his friend, Amadou Gallo Fall, who had emigrated from Senegal as a young man himself, graduated magna cum laude from the University of the District of Columbia and risen like a firecracker through the NBA's ranks, first as a scout for the Dallas Mavericks, then the team's director of player personnel and vice president of international affairs. The NBA was about to hire him as its vice president of development in Africa.

Fall was already acting on his extraordinary vision in Africa, having opened the SEEDS Academy (Sports for Education and Economic Development in Senegal) in Dakar, the capital city, in 2003. SEEDS brought young men who weren't in the thrall of soccer, the country's sport of choice, to a place where they would undergo months of rigorous academic work along with learning the basics of basketball. Those who showed special promise would be repatriated in the States, as Gallo had been, and put in U.S. high schools with the hopes of getting college scholarships. Those who weren't quite good enough to play in the States would stay behind and help teach the next group of youngsters. Once Anne Buford went to Senegal on her own and saw what Gallo was doing, she was hooked and wanted to tell their -- and his -- story.

There simply couldn't be anyone more right than Anne Buford to tell their story. She has been immersed in the sports world since her days growing up in Kansas. She was 14 when her big brother was a grad assistant for Larry Brown on the University of Kansas team that won the 1988 national championship. She slept on Alvin Gentry's couch when he was a young assistant in Lawrence and R.C. would kick her out of his house; Bill Bayno -- then a grad assistant at Kansas, now a Timberwolves assistant coach -- broke all of her girlfriends' hearts after one date, and told her what her secret present was on her 18th birthday, which is why she loves and hates him to this day. When she worked weekends for NBC Sports in the early 1990s, the guy in charge of the interns was David Kahn, now the Wolves' general manager. She's been to India with Kyle Korver and on the town in New York with Quinn Buckner.

Initially, she thought she'd spend a year on the project, focusing primarily on the lives of the young men in Senegal. She wound up taking six years to make the film, focusing on four of the teenagers as they, unexpectedly, came to the States and got into the U.S. college basketball factory -- Assane Sene (at Virginia), Dethie Fall (Roanoke College), Aziz N'Diaye (Washington) and Byago Diouf (Carroll College). Raising funds on the fly like any other first-time filmmaker, she finally finished the film, "Elevate," earlier this year. The movie premiered last March at the prestigious South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin and opened to general release last weekend in New York and Los Angeles. Anne Buford is back in New York, happy to talk about the film and willing to say bad stuff about her big brother, whom she loves dearly.

Me: As a documentary filmmaker, how do you avoid people knowing they're always on camera -- doesn't that affect how they behave?

Anne Buford: When we were shooting in Senegal, it was the 'American Film Crew' that was coming to SEEDS Academy. And that was their world. And it was very easy for them to show you their world. At that point, they weren't self-conscious to 'act' for you. They were just being kids. And kids are a little bit unconscious, especially these kids. They weren't American kids. They were very sophisticated, more sophisticated than you would have thought. Like at one point I said to one of the boys, 'Do you like 50 Cent?' And he said, 'I'm West Coast.' I was like, oh, my God, the Internet has changed the world.

The Q Foundation [the foundation of former Duke star and current Sixers player development director Quin Snyder] had bought the Academy like nine computers for an Internet cafe area. And they weren't the latest, greatest computers; they were computers that would work in Africa. And so the boys had the ability to have computers because of that. But once you get to America, and you're seven feet tall, and you're miserable, and you're being followed by a film crew and a boom [mike], that's where the filmmaker, you look at your subject, and you think, 'I'm shooting children. They're kids. They're teenagers. And I cannot exploit these kids. I don't care how important the shot is; I don't care what I'm going to miss.' And at that point, if you care, if you have a heart about people, you have to put down the camera. So we didn't shoot Assane and Dethie a lot at school. It still felt to them like we shot them every day. But we really didn't.

Me: What documentaries influenced you as a filmmaker?

AB: The Robert McNamara doc ["The Fog of War"]. I loved "The Two Escobars." I was already doing the film by then. I always say I love "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." That's like my favorite film of all time. You know, when I'm sitting on panels, everyone else has these like, very erudite films. And I'm like, 'Ferris Bueller?' I love John Hughes. You know, because you can have nuance and importance, but still tell a funny story. To me, that's the way to appeal to people. And, I think, to the boys. Life is hard. When you're young, it's either all good or all bad. And then if you get older, you have to learn that on the day you get something good, is the day you get something bad. Amadou says, 'We always have to be ascending.' It's about just all rolling with the punches.

Me: How did you pick these four kids?

AB: Assane I met at Basketball Without Borders in 2005. And I don't speak a word of French. I don't speak any Wolof [the Senegalese language spoken in that area of the country]. I never learned it. I have no ear for language. And so it was fascinating, because he shows up, and he's 6-foot-11, 177 pounds, and he has this little teeny band-aid with a cotton ball underneath it, and I said to him, through a translator, 'What happened to your shoulder?' And he said, 'It's dislocated.' I said, 'Wow, that's not doing very much for a dislocated shoulder.' And he was a kid who was the fighter on the court. At that point, there were a couple of kids at SEEDS who were older and bigger. A guy named Mustafa, who went and played in Belgium. He was 7-foot-1, 240, which is big for them. Assane had no fear. He was there. He was gonna fight, and he was gonna be the gnat, and he wasn't going to be respectful. He says, 'I have heart. I'm not strong, but I have heart.'

Aziz, when I first met him in April, 2005, he was the next generation of SEEDS. He was big. And I watched him grow into being the leader. All the boys have a place where they eat at SEEDS at the table. No matter if there's only two of them, and they're sitting at a table of 20 from each other, they still sit in their places. And he was the one nearest the kitchen. And that was the dominant role. And all the boys would say, 'Aziz took my lunch.' But they all loved him. He's kind of the non-bully bully. He doesn't bully you. But if he wants something, he'll tell you ...

At a life skills class in September 2005, Billy Bayno was talking to a group from SEEDS in Senegal -- it was in Dakar -- and a group that Masai [Ujiri, now the Nuggets' general manager] had brought from Nigeria. And he was talking to them about the importance of English as the language of basketball, and that they all needed to learn English and French. And for the French guys, it was time for them to learn English. And they asked them to write goals for a year, and goals for five years, in both French and English. And the goal was for them to help each other, like the Nigerian guys would help the Senegalese guys in English, and vice versa. So Aziz stands up, and reads in French -- something, I couldn't tell you what he said -- and he translated it into English, and he said, 'My goals are to marry a nice girl, have a family, go away and play basketball, and come back and build a house in Senegal.' And I thought, 'What 16-year-old stands up and says I want to get married, have a family, build a house?' And he was not self-conscious about it. He was like, this is who I am, this is what's important to me.

Me: Did you have this jones to direct movies when you were at Vogue?

AB: Since I grew up in Kansas, I can always remember, TV was like my outlet to the world. And sports, really, our lives revolved around it. My father played college football, so when we were young, our lives revolved around Oklahoma State football games on the weekend, and then Wichita State basketball, and R.C.'s basketball and football schedule. So everything was very sporty. And then when I got to Vogue, on the weekends in 1994, I would work for Quinn Buckner on the Showtime show at NBC Sports, as an intern. And that's when David Kahn was in charge of the interns. So I met David through coach [Larry] Brown in Portland in 1990 when the Spurs played the Trail Blazers in the playoffs. And so I knew David a little bit. He was kind of running the back deck. And I knew Quinn through Alvin Gentry. And so I was like the young, you know, I just knew them all. Like I would take Quinn and Alvin out in New York, 'cause I worked at Vogue on the weekdays, so I could get into anywhere. So we would all go out on the weekends and behave ourselves.

Me: Fashion and basketball seem so diametrically opposed. Is there any overlap?

AB: You have a lot of overlap. First you have a lot of personalities. You have a lot of interesting people. Anna Wintour is an amazing person. The film is such a classic example of what I learned from her, which was, take something that you want people to care about. If you made it interesting for them to care about, they would support it. What she would say was, you remember 7th on Sale [the Council of Fashion Designers of America-Vogue Initiative, which raised millions of dollars in the early '90s for services, advocacy and care for AIDS patients]? The designers would donate clothes, and they would sell the clothes, and they would do a big party and get press for the party, and then people would read about it, and then they would learn about AIDS. And that's essentially what the film is about. Amadou is doing something really good in Senegal, creating opportunities for young African guys that he'd had. The NBA is besides the point, but it's really the hook. The boys don't know anything about college basketball. But they know about the NBA because of Amadou and DeSagana Diop [the former first-round pick of the Cavaliers and a Senegal native] and those guys. And it's kind of beside the point, but it's what makes Americans take notice of them, that they're seven feet tall and they have a possibility of maybe playing basketball at a higher level.

Me: When you were filming, would they talk to you? Or would you say. 'Don't talk to me; live your life?'

AB: No! Assane and I would talk a lot about, 'Do you love me for the film, or do you love me for me?' Which is what he would say to me. And I would call R.C. and say, 'What do I say?' Because yes, I love him. How can you be around people and not care about them? Especially, at that point, I'm the only one they know in America. And the crew. And so, you don't [ignore them]. You all become a bit of a family. No NCAA rules were broken. When I started this project, I never thought the boys would come [to the States]. I was going to do a year project at SEEDS Academy, maybe a short. It was my first project. I thought, I've been around basketball my whole life, and I think this is interesting. So maybe other people would think it was interesting. I didn't think, oh, my gosh, one of the guys is going to come. Maybe that was naive. I thought it was really cool that all the NBA scouts were all there together -- like Milt Newton [the Wizards' assistant general manager], who I'd gone to college with. He was at Kansas then. And Milt and I were buddies when we were there. And Kevin Pritchard [the former Blazers' GM]. Kevin was my grade...

When we were shooting Aziz, and he gets hurt, your first inclination is like, oh, my God, I've gotta get down there and make sure he's okay. But then as a filmmaker, you're like, that's not really my place. And so you're stuck in the middle. But I know Nate [Pomeday, the coach at Lake Forest Academy in Illinois, where Aziz went to high school upon coming to the States] is there, and Nate's miked, and I can hear what's going on. And Aziz would not have liked it if I had come on the court ... you are each other's family. I've known them since they were 15. Now they're all 22 and 23. They call R.C. 'Uncle R.C.' I'm like, nobody calls R.C. 'Uncle R.C.'

Me: How did you know when you had enough for a movie?

AB: I think you pick and choose ... in 2007, Assane's visa had been delayed. Homeland Security had flagged it. So at that point, we thought that was our story; OK, there are visa issues that these guys have to face. But then, Byago's visa got completely turned down. You never know why. I happened to be inside when Assane's visa got turned down, or when it got delayed, and I just said to the woman, 'Can you tell me what's going on?' And she was very sweet and told me. She didn't have to. Byago's, the person did not want to talk to the person who was with him. So, you don't know.

You don't want to repeat the same story. I think, really, honestly, I never want to do anything to hurt the boys' NCAA eligibility, so I like to make it that it really wasn't about the NCAA, 'cause it never was. But I think when all of a sudden Aziz and Assane are playing each other on TV [in a 2010 Virginia-Washington game], you're like, 'Oh, my God, this is really magical.' Like, who would have thought that these two guys from Dakar, Senegal, would be playing in Hawaii at the Maui Classic in 2010? You have other endings, but that's kind of the perfect [ending]. And we didn't say they were playing in the same game, 'cause it was too hard to tell the story. And you have Jay Bilas talking about SEEDS. We have nothing to do with it; we're licensing the footage from ESPN. And so, you know, that's when you're like, this really means something. Sports can be used as a tool for social change ...

The NBA's amazing at all levels. Who else would let Amadou Gallo Fall have a full-time job, like Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson let him have a full-time job where he has this school, and I'm sure they support to some degree when he was working for them, where he takes his friends and his co-workers from other teams that are competing against each other? They go over there, they all travel together and work together with these kids. Where they work in a world where they need people who are extremely tall, like seven feet tall? That Amadou graduates Magna cum Laude from school, really emphasizes education, so that these boys can them come to America, and get 1080s on their SATs, and go to some of the finest institutions and graduate -- if they have the proper mentoring the whole way through?

Me: Amadou has an incredible sense of duty, doesn't he?

AB: He got one B in college. He had taken a music class his senior year, 'cause he thought he would pick up girls. And he got the B in that class. It was a guitar class, he says. And then he really wanted to be a doctor, but he couldn't get a scholarship. So that's why he started working at Georgetown Medical School, started taking classes at Georgetown Business School, and helping kids. There's kids that he's helped come over for a long time. And I think he may have realized at some point that these guys need some prep work. They need to be kind of given some life skills about what they're going to encounter.

Like, there's an opening scene where Amadou really sets the stage. And Rolando Blackman has gone over with him, and, you know, the boys don't know who he is. But Amadou tells them that he's important. He often says, 'Africa has a perception problem. You are our ambassadors. We need you to go out and change the world, create opportunities.' And Amadou was not very keen on this in the beginning. He took me aside, and he was very serious -- I always say it felt like he had me by my collar, but he didn't, he didn't touch me -- and he just said. 'This is not about pity. This is about hope and opportunity.' None of these boys want you to feel sorry for them. Because, you know, Amadou, that doesn't even cross his mind. I always say if I say something about the boys, he's just like, they have it easy. The kids back here, the ones that don't get to come, they're the ones who have it harder. But he views it as everybody has a place. Whether they're at SEEDS Academy and they pass the Baccalaureate test and they go on to play for the school in Senegal, they're as important as the boys here (in America). Because some of them have to be the ones on the ground in Senegal. And so he feels like everyone has a purpose. The ones 'left behind,' so to speak, aren't the ones left behind.

Me: So what happens now with the movie?

AB: Well, it opens in L.A., and it opened in Dallas ... we won the Oklahoma City Film Festival. We won the Dallas Film Festival. Those were logical places for us to go back. Los Angeles, when we were at the Los Angeles Film Festival, it's a basketball town that really liked the film, because they get the humor. And a lot of people who don't like basketball like the film, but the way they approach it is much different. It's a much more poignant story to them...

[Lakers coach] Mike Brown was at the screening in L.A. It was Father's Day, he was away from his family, and he and a friend came. And Danny Ferry [now working in the Spurs' front office after being the Cavaliers' GM], I always say he's my publicist among the guys. He's always telling somebody to go see it. Or I'll get a call saying 'Danny told me to call you.' I really appreciate that. I hate Duke basketball. I'm a Kansas fan. And like, Duke guys are my favorite guys. So it's been a hard transition for me. And there was a guy who was there to watch the film. I was sitting behind Mike Brown. And the guy was sitting behind me. He was like two rows away. And when Aziz was playing, this man was like, 'Get that guy! Get that guy!' He was saying it out loud to Mike Brown. Like, Mike's new to L.A. I was like, this is kind of funny. And no other place would you have had that.

Me: How do you get nominated for awards?

AB: We submitted to the Independent Spirit Awards. Whether we get nominated or not, there's a lot of great films this year. And we submitted to the Academy Awards. At one point somebody says to me, 'you've got to have guns and violence from Africa, and you don't have LeBron James.' And I said, 'Well, I never set out to make a film that had guns and violence in Africa, because that's not my experience.' That's like saying all of America is the same, like L.A. or New York. It's so different everywhere you go. And we don't have LeBron James. I knew the film that I had. I didn't know the scenes we would have.

Me: So, I need one embarassing story about your brother, the famous general manager.

AB: OK, so his middle name is Canterbury...

Me: You mean, like the Canterbury Tales?

AB: I looked at my mother one day, 'Do you spell Canterbury C-A-N-T-E-R-B-U-R-Y?' And she was like, 'How do you not know this?' I was like, 'Cause it's hard.' So he got my mom's maiden name. And all the players are like, 'What's the C stand for?' So if you want embarassing stories, you have to talk to Bill Pope [the Jayhawks' student manager in '88 and now an advance scout for the Pistons] or Bill Self [Kansas' coach, who was a young assistant coach with Buford under Brown at Kansas]. Some people say the way he dresses is embarassing.

"Elevate" opened last Friday in New York and Los Angeles. It will be available on-demand in a few weeks, with a DVD release next Feb. 14 and an airing on ESPN's 30/30 documentary series in the spring of 2012.

Note: the interview with Anne Buford was conducted Friday afternoon, before R.C. Buford's arrest Friday evening, when he was charged with DWI after crashing his car into a fence. The Spurs released a statement that claimed Buford, a diabetic, had suffered a severe low blood sugar reaction that caused the accident.

[Giuseppe]

In is mug shot he looks like the little boy who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and daddy's coming with the belt !

The good old days at the Chuckbox with DoK.

[vato loco]

Another witness reported seeing him driving in circles in a parking lot.

:lmao

[DeadlyDynasty]

:rolleyes narcotics for diabetes :rolleyes

:lmao this story gets better and better

[Trill Clinton]

R.C always came off as a down to earth owner. He had a DWI, so what? I know plenty of people with em':lol I do think he was smoking some medical marijuana, though:toast

[DeadlyDynasty]

He had a DWI, so what? I know plenty of people with em'

me too

http://www.footballnewsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/leonard_little.jpg

[DeadlyDynasty]

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/3143244.jpg

[Trill Clinton]

me too

http://www.footballnewsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/leonard_little.jpg


was gone ask who this ugly mofo was but I see his name in the jpg. shame at what he did to his career.

Let's add dwayne goodrich why we're at it.
http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width/hash/6f/4d/6f4d7a1b9893f49e9f4b9dc241b0fb95.jpg

[DeadlyDynasty]

was gone ask who this ugly mofo was but I see his name in the jpg. shame at what he did to his career.

Let's add dwayne goodrich why we're at it.
http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width/hash/6f/4d/6f4d7a1b9893f49e9f4b9dc241b0fb95.jpg

lol forgot about det guy

[DMC]

Maybe he couldnt afford a cab
He probably had a nice cab opened already, recently acquired from Pop, and was going to work on it when he was arrested.


Also: He misunderstood. He was trying to attack D-fence.

[Trill Clinton]

I remember seeing Greg Simmons at the Atrium one night lol. He was WASTED. I was taking a piss in the bathroom and he was in the next stall damn near about to fall over, stumbled out without cleaning up or anything. He did have a fine ass Mexican chick waiting for him in the hallway, though.

[DMC]

I remember seeing Greg Simmons at the Atrium one night lol. He was WASTED. I was taking a piss in the bathroom and he was in the next stall damn near about to fall over, stumbled out without cleaning up or anything. He did have a fine ass Mexican chick waiting for him in the hallway, though.
I was at Sunova Beach one night (some of you remember it) and Greg Simmons comes in and he's wearing that blue jacket with a red tie. The place was standing room only, and he comes by our table (yes we were actually sitting) and my cousin who's a dumbass grabs the guy's tie, pulls him down an says "aint you got some fuckin' meetin' to go to?"

[BlackSwordsMan]

Why isn't Guiseppe banned?

[DMC]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/mediaManager/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=1732914&width=628&height=471

In is mug shot he looks like the little boy who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and daddy's coming with the belt !
Is daddy a judge in Aransas County?

[Trill Clinton]

I was at Sunova Beach one night (some of you remember it) and Greg Simmons comes in and he's wearing that blue jacket with a red tie. The place was standing room only, and he comes by our table (yes we were actually sitting) and my cousin who's a dumbass grabs the guy's tie, pulls him down an says "aint you got some fuckin' meetin' to go to?"

:lol

Greg Simmons is a G:hat A friend of mine worked at Ksat and said Greg would hit on all the interns.

[DMC]

Why isn't Guiseppe banned?
Oh oh... I know...


Because he hasn't been banned?

[Blake]

Also: He misunderstood. He was trying to attack D-fence.

http://mamalewis.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/article-1337496-0c6eb228000005dc-569_468x286.jpg

[BlackSwordsMan]

Why isn't DMC banned as well?

[DesignatedT]

Greg Simmons gets wasted every night. He has like his own facebook page dedicated to people who see him out drinking.

[Das Texan]

If you havent been out and seen Simmons drunk, well then you just never get out.

[I. Hustle]

If you havent been out and seen Simmons drunk, well then you just never get out.

No Shit. That dude is everywhere and always with hot chicks

[ElNono]

who is Greg Simmons?

[Kori Ellis]

who is Greg Simmons?

http://www.ksat.com/station/109785/detail.html

[Blake]

If you havent been out and seen Simmons drunk, well then you just never get out.

Truth

[ploto]

http://www.ksat.com/news/29703314/detail.html
:rolleyes narcotics for diabetes :rolleyes

I had heard from someone that it was worse than it seemed, but I never imagined it was that bad!

[baseline bum]

If you havent been out and seen Simmons drunk, well then you just never get out.

Haha, that guy is so arrogant in person.

[ploto]

Haha, that guy is so arrogant in person.

Guess he is nice to women- he's always been nice and extra polite to me.

[mountainballer]

diabetis? what a lousy defense.

Kobe's lawyer would have called this turning of water into alcohol a demonstration of his heavenliness and the action with the fence a consensual crash.

[Dex]

Guess he is nice to women- he's always been nice and extra polite to me.

He's pretty much known for being out at bars, getting drunk, and hitting on the ladies, so....no surprises here.

He's like a real life Ron Burgundy. I bet he has several leather bound books and his apartment smells of rich mahogany.

[ElNono]

http://www.ksat.com/station/109785/detail.html

thx

[ElNono]

Where's that Wilford Brimley troll when you need him? :lol

[MaNu4Tres]

He's pretty much known for being out at bars, getting drunk, and hitting on the ladies, so....no surprises here.

He's like a real life Ron Burgundy. I bet he has several leather bound books and his apartment smells of rich mahogany.

:lol

Real life Ron Burgundy is so true.

I remember seeing him out all the time at Sherlocks (281/Thousand Oaks) on Monday nights back when I lived in SA.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Where's that Wilford Brimley troll when you need him? :lol

Banned :cry

[I. Hustle]

I took a pic with RC at the fundraiser. I took a pic with Tim too. RC seemed pretty drunk when I was talking to him but then again I was def drunk.

[Wilford Brimley]

Banned :cry

...

[DeadlyDynasty]

lol

[SenorSpur]

Greg Simmons gets wasted every night. He has like his own facebook page dedicated to people who see him out drinking.

He really does. It's been over 20 years since I lived in S.A. and I remember seeing Simmons a few times on the old St. Mary's strip. Every time I saw him, he was smashed to the gills. It doesn't sound like he's changed very much. I'm surprised we've not heard about him getting a D.W.I. or two.

[DMC]

It was like 1990 or something when I saw him so he's been at it for awhile it seems. I stopped doing that shit 15 years ago.

[SenorSpur]

This is very disturbing news about R.C. I'm glad no one was hurt. I hope he's learned a very valuable lesson from all this.

[DMC]

This is very disturbing news about R.C. I'm glad no one was hurt. I hope he's learned a very valuable lesson from all this.
He has:

Forget that run and gun shit from last year. Focus on d-fence.

[Venti Quattro]

Still mourning for 8?

[jag]

I won't pretend like I'm appalled by this. Surprised... but not appalled.

[vato loco]

I took a pic with RC at the fundraiser. I took a pic with Tim too. RC seemed pretty drunk when I was talking to him but then again I was def drunk.

post them bro

[cantthinkofanything]

post them bro

http://biggestdork1994.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/selena.jpg?w=437&h=549

[Giuseppe]

^You're cute. Unfortunately you're twixt a drunk driver & a shit bag.

[DMC]

It's like finding a cockroach in your kitchen. You know it's not the only one. I highly doubt RC was busted on his first trip down the bottle.

[ducks]

this is bad