Other NBA executives just can’t admit it
May 7, 2014, 7:56 PM | Updated: Jul 26, 2024, 12:13 pm
Toronto? I can see that.
Charlotte? I disagree but I understand the sentiment.
San Antonio? Idiotic.
R. C. Buford is one of the best executives in the NBA. If you want to give him Exec of the half-decade, excellent choice. If you voted him Executive of the Year over Ryan McDonough, you are a bona fide idiot. I honestly don’t care about awards, but I care to know who it was that voted Buford over McDonough so I can eliminate those people as competent for any future openings within the NBA.
There is only one reason why NBA executives would have voted Buford ahead of McDonough: jealousy. They aren’t jealous the Suns have McDonough. They are jealous that their GM hasn’t had any years as good as McDonough did in one year.
Let’s be clear: This is not about the Suns. This is also not about the Spurs. I’m not saying McDonough has accomplished more than Buford over the course of their careers. It is clearly a mistake that Buford has yet to win an Executive of the Year. His knowledge of foreign players is one of the biggest factors leading to the Spurs’ dominance of the NBA from year-to-year. None of this has anything to do with the 2013 offseason into the 2013-14 season.
Ryan McDonough took a 25-win team to almost a 50-win team. Ryan McDonough changed out 60 percent of the starting lineup (trading Dudley, Scola and Gortat). He turned Luis Scola into two starters and a future pick. He proved the two point guard system would work. He hired Jeff Hornacek.
In the same offseason, Buford signed Jeff (Pendergraph) Ayers and Marco Belinelli. Which executive in their right mind thought winning the three-point contest vaults the team’s GM to Executive of the Year? I love Jeff Ayers. Sorry Jeff. You didn’t have the year that Hornacek, Bledsoe, Green or Plumlee did. Therefore, Buford did not have the year McDonough did.
If those voters want to vote on whether R. C. Buford will have a better career than Ryan McDonough, great discussion. It goes against logic to ever vote that a first year GM could have the career of R.C. Buford (although I won’t put anything past him after hearing stories about his work ethic). However, if we’re discussing who had the better YEAR, in order to win the award “Executive of the last 365 days,” there is only one choice.
Congratulations to R.C. Buford. It’s not your fault you won an award that was not deserved versus the competition. You’ve done so much in this game that you deserved to be recognized before now. To the executives that voted for Buford, it’s sad that you were so embarrassed that McDonough had a better year than you did in only his first year, so you voted for someone else.
