'Red McCombs had vision' | San Antonio mourns the man who brought pro sports to the Alamo City

to consider that the San Antonio Spurs are probably the one of the most well known sports brands in the world. Red was the foundation of that. Red McCombs died today at the age of 95 capping a Texas sized life that began in his birthplace of Spur, Texas. That's no coincidence. If he had been born elsewhere, we might be rooting for a different basketball team. When he purchased the debt-ridden Dallas Chaperrals in 1973, he moved them here to San Antonio and bestowed upon them the Spurs name. And while George Gervent and the players on the floor helped grow the popularity, it was McCombs and his partners who orchestrated the team's move to the NBA in 1976, giving San Antonio its long-awaited dream of professional sports franchise.

We just didn't know how it was going to grow. But you had a good foundation and you had men who had vision. Red McCombs had vision. Now both Mehran and the Iceman used the term foundation when describing McCombs' contributions to the Spurs. He bought them, actually, if you could believe it, through the process, through. Many forget that McCombs actually sold the team in 1982. He ended up purchasing the Denver Nuggets, a former ABA squad.

Not a lot of people know this, but you'll see after just a three-year stint as owner of the Denver Nuggets, he had a change of heart and he reversed course back here to San Antonio when he repurchased the team in 1986. At the time, they'd been short on finances considering relocation. But those close to him say it was time to come home. We understood the valuations of sports teams, too. We understood the asset value. So he's a business friend and at that time the Nuggets were sold and had debt and took on debt. Two years later, he turned around and quadrupled his investment.

So he understands business. With the Spurs, there's a little bit different. I mean, this is his hometown. He wanted that franchise to succeed. You know, Red was really responsible with Angela Drossus in making sure the Spurs stayed in San Antonio when he could have left. McCombs sold the Spurs fully in 1993 to Peter Holt, who still owns the team today and had an eight-year stint as owner of the Minnesota Vikings thereafter. But you can't say the Spurs would be here in San Antonio without Red McCombs.

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