马刺扎根圣安东尼奥的故事里，雷德·麦库姆斯 (Red McCombs) 是绕不过去的人物。本集回顾他的人生与球队往事，讲述他在推动马刺落户这座城市的过程中发挥的重要作用。
“Red on Red”, via San Antonio Spurs / YouTube
Red McCombs 堪称马刺之父啊，原来他的家乡小镇就叫 Spur 镇（Spurs 队名来自征名活动）
转发两篇2023年老人家去世时 SAEN 的报道
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[SAEN] 马刺大家庭追忆雷德·麦库姆斯对球队的深远影响
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer / San Antonio Express-News, Feb 20, 2023
马刺大家庭的成员们纷纷缅怀圣安东尼奥亿万富翁、球队元老 B.J. “雷德”·麦库姆斯 (B.J. “Red” McCombs)。在他们心中，他是一位得克萨斯州的传奇人物，对马刺的热爱仅次于对家人的爱。
“他是个极具传奇色彩的人物，”马刺电视解说员、前球队球星肖恩·埃利奥特 (Sean Elliott) 说，“光是他的全名——B.J.‘雷德’·麦库姆斯——就说明了一切。他是我认识的第一个叫‘雷德’的人。以前只有西部片里的人物才会有这样的名字。”
麦库姆斯的家人在周一上午发布的声明中表示，他于周日在“亲人的陪伴下安详离世”。
“我们为失去一位得克萨斯州的标志性人物而哀悼，”家属表示。
麦库姆斯享年95岁。
OTS/HEIDBRINK——2009年11月3日，麦库姆斯（受表彰者、演讲嘉宾）、乔治·格文 (George Gervin)（支持者）、朱莉·威斯德姆-怀尔德 (Julie Wisdom-Wild)（Alpha Home 首席执行官）和迈克·米切尔 (Mike Mitchell)（支持者）出席在圣安东尼奥乡村俱乐部举行的 Alpha Home 午宴。这是两张照片中的第一张。姓名已核实。摄影：利兰·A.奥茨 (Leland A. Outz)。
麦库姆斯的离世，让多位在球队迁至圣安东尼奥初期效力过的老球员深感悲痛。
“我可以说，雷德是我的朋友，”名人堂成员格文说，“他对这座城市的影响令人难以置信。我们总说，‘雷德碰过的一切都会变成金子。’事实确实如此。”
马刺的队名源自麦库姆斯的家乡——位于得克萨斯州西部的斯珀 (Spur) 镇。“所以，这一点就足以说明他对马刺有多大的影响，”格文补充道。
格文动情地回忆起，在自己的“低谷时期”，麦库姆斯始终支持着他。这位四届 NBA 得分王曾因毒品和酒精成瘾而陷入人生的黑暗阶段。麦库姆斯年轻时也曾与酒瘾作斗争。
“雷德以前会叫我去他家，跟我聊聊天，让我知道我不是孤身一人，每个人的人生都会遇到难关，”格文说，“他说，‘重要的是掸掉靴子上的灰尘，重新站起来，继续往前走。’
“他就是这样影响着我的。我很自豪，能与他建立这样的情谊。”
马刺办公室——麦库姆斯与安杰洛·德罗索斯 (Angelo Drossos)，摄于得克萨斯州。
另一位马刺名人堂成员大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 通过 Twitter 向麦库姆斯致哀。
“安息吧，雷德·麦库姆斯，”这位“海军上将”写道，“他是圣安东尼奥的传奇人物，对我的人生有着巨大的影响。我们会想念你！”
2015年接受《圣安东尼奥快报》采访时，麦库姆斯表示，作为圣安东尼奥最知名、最具影响力的商界领袖，他认为自己留下的印记带着银黑色彩。
“当别人问我，在圣安东尼奥参与过的事情中，哪一件最重要时，我会毫不犹豫地回答：马刺，”当时87岁的麦库姆斯说，“毫无疑问，就是马刺。”
1973年，当时以当地大型汽车经销商身份闻名的麦库姆斯，与好友、股票经纪人德罗索斯一起，牵头组织了一个由30名本地投资者组成的财团。他们以1美元租借并附带购买选择权的方式，将美国篮球协会（ABA）的达拉斯丛林队带到了圣安东尼奥。这笔交易实质上相当于一次所有权转让。
麦库姆斯承担了约三分之一的运营费用，德罗索斯则负责寻找更多投资者。
这支陷入财务困境的球队后来成为马刺，赢得了五座 NBA 总冠军，并被视为整个职业体育界运营最出色的球队之一。
1982年，麦库姆斯出售了家族持有的大量马刺股份，转而收购丹佛掘金。1985年卖掉掘金后，他于1986年重新购入马刺股份。1988年5月，他以4700万美元从德罗索斯和其他投资者手中买下了马刺的全部所有权。
接手时，这支球队在1987-88赛季的上座人数位居 NBA 末流，门票收入仅为7.8万美元，远低于联盟平均的17万美元。麦库姆斯随即以一笔引人注目的聘任打开局面：请来拉里·布朗 (Larry Brown) 执教，而就在几个月前，布朗刚刚率领堪萨斯大学赢得1988年 NCAA 冠军。
1999年6月12日星期六下午，圣安东尼奥马刺主教练格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich)（左）与圣安东尼奥商人、马刺前老板麦库姆斯在阿拉莫穹顶球馆的球队训练期间握手交谈。（美联社照片／《圣安东尼奥快报》，威廉·卢瑟 (William Luther) 摄）HOUCHRON 图片说明（1999年6月13日）：马刺主教练波波维奇（左）欢迎前老板麦库姆斯来到球队周六在阿拉莫穹顶球馆举行的训练。身为 NFL 明尼苏达维京人队老板的麦库姆斯，穿着一件纪念马刺横扫波特兰开拓者、首次晋级 NBA 总决赛的 T 恤。
布朗的教练团队中，除了如今已成为 NBA 历史胜场数最多的主教练、并五次夺得总冠军的波波维奇，还有 R.C. 布福德 (R.C. Buford)。布福德在担任马刺总经理期间两次荣获 NBA 年度最佳高管，并于2019年升任马刺体育娱乐公司首席执行官。
1993年2月，麦库姆斯以7500万美元将马刺出售给由商人鲍勃·科尔曼 (Bob Coleman) 牵头的本地投资者财团，以确保球队留在圣安东尼奥。
曾帮助马刺在1999年夺得队史首冠的埃利奥特表示，麦库姆斯是一位事必躬亲的老板，经常与妻子夏琳 (Charline) 及其他家人一道和球员交流，大家都欢迎他来训练场。
“我记得有一次，他穿着 T 恤、运动裤、牛仔靴和皮草大衣，戴着牛仔帽来参加训练，”埃利奥特说，“那身打扮看起来挺有意思的。不过，只要雷德到场，训练时大家总会多提起几分精神，毕竟他是老板。”
麦库姆斯也经常在赛后走进更衣室。无论是马刺自1973年起使用的半球博览会球馆，还是球队1993年迁入的阿拉莫穹顶球馆，都能看到他的身影。
“无论输赢，他总会在赛后来更衣室见我们，”埃利奥特说，“而且他总是那么乐观。赢了也好，输了也罢，他都会进来拍拍大家的后背，说些鼓励的话。他从来不会消极地对待我们。很多球员都很感激他这一点。”
与格文一样，埃利奥特也和麦库姆斯建立了深厚的情谊。这份交情始于1989年：马刺用第三顺位选中埃利奥特，他随后与球队签约。
“签第一份合同时，我和雷德坐在办公室里。他对我说，‘这意味着很大的责任，’”埃利奥特回忆道，“当时我没怎么往心里去，但多年以后再想起来，我才意识到，‘这句话多么深刻。’雷德很清楚自己在说什么，他是在给我一个宝贵的忠告。”
SPTS/DAILY／埃利奥特回归：2000年3月13日星期一，马刺前老板麦库姆斯到场观看埃利奥特训练。本报记者德尔西亚·洛佩兹 (Delcia Lopez) 摄。
马刺处处都留下了麦库姆斯的印记，而且往往影响深远。
作为聘请布朗执教的安排之一，麦库姆斯同意他将两位当时默默无闻、没有职业联赛执教经验的助教——波波维奇和布福德——带入教练组。
“他把波波和 R.C. 布福德带来了——这实在太了不起了，”埃利奥特谈到麦库姆斯时说，“而且我觉得，雷德一直想走在前面：请来拉里·布朗，聘用‘塔克’（接替布朗的杰里·塔卡尼安 (Jerry Tarkanian)），又请来约翰·卢卡斯 (John Lucas)……聘请卢卡斯是一个勇敢的决定。”
卢卡斯成为了马刺队史首位黑人主教练。
波波维奇表示，自己39岁来到圣安东尼奥担任助教时，对麦库姆斯并不了解。
“我记得他第一次走进训练馆时，脚踩大号牛仔靴，身披皮草大衣，头戴一顶大帽子。我当时都不知道自己这是来到了什么地方，”波波维奇说，“不过，我从他身上学到了很多。”
上赛季在明尼阿波利斯的一场比赛前，波波维奇回顾了这位前老板对圣安东尼奥以及整个得克萨斯州的贡献。麦库姆斯曾在1998年至2005年间拥有位于明尼阿波利斯的 NFL 明尼苏达维京人队。
“没有他，就不会有圣安东尼奥的马刺，”波波维奇说，“除此之外，他也为得克萨斯州的各所高校作出了巨大贡献，产生了深远影响。”
2018年3月28日星期三，麦库姆斯回忆自己曾因1968年半球博览会的一份邀请，与时任福特汽车公司总裁李·艾柯卡 (Lee Iacocca) 交流的往事。
多年来，波波维奇与这位热爱体育、在圣安东尼奥举足轻重的人物一直保持着亲密关系。
“你就是会喜欢上这个人，”波波维奇说，“他是个极具传奇色彩的人物。”
麦库姆斯将原本以家庭作坊方式经营的马刺，转变为一支现代化的职业球队，着力树立亲近家庭、服务社区的形象。
埃利奥特还指出，麦库姆斯的妻子夏琳通过慈善事业，“为我们建立起马刺大家庭的氛围发挥了重要作用”。
“他们为我们今天拥有的一切奠定了基础，”埃利奥特说。
马刺新老板麦库姆斯与妻子夏琳；摄于1988年，圣安东尼奥马刺 NBA 篮球。
麦库姆斯也是球队最热情的支持者。即使在最后一次出售球队之后，他接受媒体采访时，也经常以表达对马刺夺冠前景的乐观态度作为开场。
格文回忆，1976年夏天 ABA 与 NBA 合并后，马刺在首场 NBA 比赛中击败费城76人。赛后，麦库姆斯责备记者们没有给予马刺足够的关注。
当费城记者在赛后围着76人球星朱利叶斯·欧文 (Julius Erving) 采访时，麦库姆斯站到了更衣室的一把椅子上，试图把聚光灯转向马刺。
“雷德说，‘嘿，我不知道你们都在聊些什么。你们知道吗？赢球的是我们！圣安东尼奥可不是一支能被小看的球队！’”格文回忆道。
格文说，麦库姆斯将永远与马刺、与圣安东尼奥紧紧联系在一起。
“兄弟，提起麦库姆斯，就是在说圣安东尼奥。”
本报记者雷内·古兹曼 (Rene Guzman) 对本文亦有贡献。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：Red McCombs’ impact on franchise remembered by Spurs family
Red McCombs’ impact on franchise remembered by Spurs family
Members of the Spurs family remembered San Antonio billionaire and franchise patriarch B.J. “Red” McCombs as an iconic Texan whose devotion to the franchise ranked second only to his love for his family.
“He was larger than life,” Spurs TV analyst and former star player Sean Elliott said. “His whole name, B.J. ‘Red’ McCombs, said it all. He was the first guy I ever knew who was named Red. Only guys in Western movies had that kind of name.”
McCombs died Sunday “peacefully surrounded by loved ones,” his family said in a statement released Monday morning.
“We mourn the loss of a Texas icon,” the family said.
McCombs was 95.
OTS/HEIDBRINK - Red McCombs (Honoree, Speaker), George Gervin (Supporter), Julie Wisdom-Wild (CEO Alpha Home) and Mike Mitchell (Supporter) were at the Alpha Home Luncheon on 11/3/2009 at the San Antonio Country Club. This is #1 of 2 photos. names checked photo by leland a. outz
McCombs’ death hit several former players from the franchise’s early years in San Antonio hard.
“I can say Red (was) a friend,” Hall of Famer George Gervin said. “The impact he had on this city is unbelievable. We always say, ‘Everything Red touches turns to gold.’ It’s a reality.”
The team was named after McCombs’ hometown of Spur, in West Texas. “So that tells you a lot about his influence on the Spurs,” Gervin added.
He fondly remembers how McCombs stood by him during his “down times,” a dark period in the four-time NBA scoring champion’s life stemming from addiction to drugs and alcohol. McCombs had his own struggles with alcohol during his younger years.
“Red used to call me over to the house and talk to me, let me know that I ain’t the Lone Ranger, that we all go through things in life,” Gervin said. “(He said), ‘It’s just important to dust your boots off and get back up and keep moving forward.’
“He was that kind of influence for me. I’m very proud to have had a relationship with him.”
He fondly remembers how McCombs stood by him during his “down times,” a dark period in the four-time NBA scoring champion’s life stemming from addiction to drugs and alcohol. McCombs had his own struggles with alcohol during his younger years.
“Red used to call me over to the house and talk to me, let me know that I ain’t the Lone Ranger, that we all go through things in life,” Gervin said. “(He said), ‘It’s just important to dust your boots off and get back up and keep moving forward.’
“He was that kind of influence for me. I’m very proud to have had a relationship with him.”
Spurs Office – B. J. “Red” McCombs and Angelo Drossos (Texas)
Another Spurs Hall of Famer, David Robinson, paid tribute to McCombs via Twitter.
“R.I.P. Red McCombs,” the Admiral wrote. “He was a legendary figure in San Antonio and had a huge impact in my life. We will miss you!”
In a 2015 interview with the Express-News, McCombs said he saw his legacy as San Antonio’s most famous and impactful business leader as being colored in Silver & Black.
“When I am asked what I think is the most important thing I have been involved with in San Antonio, without hesitation I say the Spurs,” said McCombs, then 87. “Without any doubt, it’s the Spurs.”
In 1973, McCombs — then known best for his success as one of the area’s biggest car dealers — teamed with friend and stockbroker Angelo Drossos to head a group of 30 local investors that brought the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association to San Antonio by leasing them for $1 with an option to buy. The deal was essentially a transfer of ownership.
McCombs took on about one-third of the operating expenses while Drossos lined up additional investors.
The financially troubled franchise became the Spurs, a club that has won five NBA championship titles and is regarded as one of the best-run teams in all of professional sports.
McCombs sold his family’s substantial stake in the team in 1982 to buy the Denver Nuggets. After selling the Nuggets in 1985, McCombs repurchased his interest in the Spurs in 1986. In May 1988, he bought the Spurs outright from Drossos and other investors for $47 million.
Taking on a team that ranked near the bottom of the NBA in attendance in 1987-88 and made just $78,000 in gate revenue, compared with the league average of $170,000, McCombs immediately made a splash by hiring Larry Brown just months after he had coached Kansas to the 1988 NCAA championship.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, left, shakes hands with San Antonio businessman and former Spurs owner Red McCombs Saturday afternoon June 12, 1999 while the two talk during the Spurs’ practice at the Alamodome. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express-News, William Luther) HOUCHRON CAPTION (06/13/1999): San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, left, welcomes former Spurs owner Red McCombs to the team’s Saturday practice at the Alamodome. McCombs, who owns the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, is adorned in a T-shirt commemorating the Spurs’ sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers that earned the team its first trip to the NBA Finals.
Besides Gregg Popovich, now the NBA’s all-time winningest coach and a five-time league champion, Brown’s staff included R.C. Buford, who was promoted to Spurs Sports & Entertainment’s CEO in 2019 after twice earning NBA Executive of the Year honors as the team’s general manager.
McCombs sold the Spurs for $75 million in February 1993 to a group of local investors headed by businessman Bob Coleman to ensure that the franchise remained in San Antonio.
Known as a hands-on owner who, along with his wife, Charline, and other family members, frequently interacted with the players, McCombs was a welcome presence at practices, said Elliott, who helped the Spurs win their first NBA title in 1999.
“I remember one time he showed up for practice in a T-shirt, sweats, cowboy boots, a fur coat and his cowboy hat,” Elliott said. “It was kind of funny to see that, but whenever Red was at practice, it was always a little bit more because he was the owner.”
McCombs also frequented the locker room after games at both HemisFair Arena, where the Spurs played from 1973, and the Alamodome, where they moved to in 1993.
“He was always there to meet us in the locker room after games, win or lose,” Elliott said. “And he was always really upbeat. Win or lose, he would come in and pat guys on the back and say something encouraging. He was never negative. A lot of the guys appreciated that about him.”
Like Gervin, Elliott enjoyed a warm relationship with McCombs that began when he signed with the team after it drafted him as the third overall pick in 1989.
"When I signed my first contract, I was in the office with Red, and Red told me, ‘That’s a lot of responsibility,’” Elliott recalled. “I kind of didn’t think too much of it, but years later, I am like, ‘How profound was that.’ Red knew exactly what he was talking about, and he was trying to give me some good advice.”
SPTS/DAILY/ Sean Elliott Returns: Red McCombs former team owner stop[ed by to see Elliott practice Monday March 13, 2000. STAFF PHOTO BY DELCIA LOPEZ
McCombs’ fingerprints were all over the Spurs, often in a big way.
As part of the deal to land Brown, McCombs gave the coach the green light to include two unknown assistants with no experience in the pro ranks — Popovich and Buford — on his staff.
“He brought in Pop and R.C. Buford — that’s pretty damn amazing,” Elliott said of McCombs. “And I think Red was always trying to be at the forefront, hiring Larry Brown, hiring Tark (Jerry Tarkanian to replace Brown), bringing in John Lucas. … Hiring Luke was a brave hire.”
Lucas was the team’s first Black head coach.
Popovich said he didn’t know much about McCombs when he came to San Antonio as a 39-year-old assistant.
“I remember the first time he walked into the gym in his big cowboy boots and his fur coat and his big hat, and I had no idea where I had landed,” Popovich said. “But I learned a lot from him.”
Before a game last season in Minneapolis, where McCombs owned the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings from 1998 to 2005, Popovich reflected on his former boss’ contributions to San Antonio and the state.
“The Spurs wouldn’t be (in San Antonio) without him,” Popovich said. “Beyond that, for the colleges and universities in Texas, he has been a huge contributor and influence.”
Red McCombs remembers the interaction he had with Lee Iacocca, who at the time was president of Ford Motor Co. concerning an invitation to HemisFair '68, on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.
Popovich has enjoyed a warm relationship with the sports-loving San Antonio power broker through the years.
“You just fall in love with the guy,” Popovich said. “He is bigger than life.”
McCombs transformed the Spurs from a mom-and pop operation into a modern franchise with a heavy emphasis on marketing itself as a family friendly organization that served the community.
Elliott also pointed out that McCombs’ wife, Charline, was “instrumental in kind of establishing us as a Spurs family” through her charitable endeavors.
“They laid the foundation for what we have today,” Elliott said.
New Spurs owners, B.J. Red McCombs, wife Charline; San Antonio Spurs NBA basketball 1988
McCombs was also the team’s biggest cheerleader. Even after he sold the team for the final time, he often began interviews with the media by pointing out his optimism about the Spurs’ chances of winning a championship.
Gervin recalled how McCombs chastised reporters for not giving the Spurs more attention after they beat the Philadelphia 76ers in their first NBA game after the ABA-NBA merger in summer 1976.
With Philadelphia reporters crowded around Sixers star Julius Erving after the game, McCombs stood on a chair in the locker room in an attempt to redirect the spotlight on the Spurs.
“Red said, ‘Hey, I don’t know what you all are talking about. You know, we won! San Antonio is something to reckon with!’” Gervin recalled.
McCombs will always be synonymous with the Spurs and San Antonio, Gervin said.
“When you say McCombs, man, you say San Antone.”
Staff writer Rene Guzman contributed to this story.
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer / San Antonio Express-News
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[SAEN] 圣安东尼奥商界与马刺传奇人物雷德·麦库姆斯去世，享年95岁
By Carmina Danini, Staff writers / San Antonio Express-News, Feb 20, 2023
2017年10月16日星期一，比利·乔·“雷德”·麦库姆斯 (Billy Joe “Red” McCombs) 在 Magnolia Halle 举行的90岁生日庆祝活动上回答媒体提问。他的生日是10月19日。
编者按：本文首次发表于2023年2月20日。
自称“卖车的”的 B.J. “雷德”·麦库姆斯去世了。他建立起一个横跨汽车经销、传媒、体育球队、油气勘探、房地产和牧场经营的商业帝国。
家人表示，他于2023年2月19日在家中去世，离世时“亲人陪伴在侧”。
“我们为失去一位得克萨斯州的标志性人物而哀悼，”家人在声明中说，“雷德是一位富有远见的企业家，他影响了许多人的人生，以难以衡量的方式改变了我们的社区。”
麦库姆斯以绰号“雷德”闻名，有时也被叫作“大雷德”——作家詹姆斯·米切纳 (James Michener) 就曾这样提到他。他是一个再典型不过的得克萨斯人。
这位身材高大、嗓音洪亮、性格张扬的乐天派，总是那么鲜活夺目，在汽车、体育和商界之间游刃有余。
2017年10月16日星期一，在 Magnolia Halle 举行的90岁生日庆祝活动上，麦库姆斯与雷德·麦库姆斯福特车行的车辆库存经理特里尼·古铁雷斯 (Trini Gutierrez) 开着玩笑，妻子夏琳·麦库姆斯 (Charline McCombs) 在一旁注视着他们。麦库姆斯于2023年2月19日星期日去世，享年95岁。
在大萧条时期长大的麦库姆斯，后来成为亿万富翁。他是入选2022年《福布斯》全球富豪榜的三位圣安东尼奥人之一。榜单估计他的净资产为17亿美元。
麦库姆斯赚了很多钱，也捐出了很多钱。
雷德·麦库姆斯的影响，不可能用一条新闻标题概括。如果你住在圣安东尼奥，或者支持马刺，或者在得克萨斯大学商学院读过书，或者曾为长角牛队打过垒球，他都曾给你的生活带来改变，而且往往是巨大的改变。
——迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) (@mikefinger)，2023年2月20日
2000年，他捐赠了5000万美元，得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的麦库姆斯商学院因此以他的名字命名。这是该校当时收到的最大一笔单次捐款。
2005年，麦库姆斯与妻子夏琳向位于休斯敦的得克萨斯大学 MD 安德森癌症中心捐赠了3000万美元。这是该机构当时收到的最大一笔癌症研究捐款，促成了雷德与夏琳·麦库姆斯癌症早期检测与治疗研究所的成立。
麦库姆斯表示，这笔捐款是他主动提出的，因为癌症影响的不只是患者本人，还有整个家庭。
“从来没有哪种掠夺者像癌症这样，”他对赫斯特报业说，“它就像一个越过州界的大盗，夺走得克萨斯州最宝贵的财富。我们希望看到 MD 安德森‘让癌症成为历史’的口号变为现实。”
照片中的麦库姆斯还是一个红头发的婴儿，摄于他的家乡斯珀镇。在成长为成功的商人和慈善家之前，他曾打过橄榄球，也参加过童子军。麦库姆斯于2023年2月19日星期日去世，享年95岁。
他的一个女儿玛莎·麦库姆斯·希尔兹 (Marsha McCombs Shields) 曾在 MD 安德森接受治疗。
据麦库姆斯企业集团介绍，自1981年以来，麦库姆斯家族及其主要慈善机构麦库姆斯基金会，已向圣安东尼奥和得克萨斯州各地的公益事业捐赠超过1.35亿美元。
市长罗恩·尼伦伯格 (Ron Nirenberg) 称麦库姆斯是“圣安东尼奥现代史的支柱，也是本地经济的巨人”。
“他是一个实干家，也希望社区领袖拿出同样的行动力，”尼伦伯格说，“如果你做到了，就能赢得他的尊重。他坚信我们可以达到更高的高度，并为此不懈努力。”
曾任圣安东尼奥商会会长兼首席执行官、也担任过市议员的乔·克里尔 (Joe Krier) 表示，麦库姆斯“在商业上有远见，在社区事务上也有远见”。
“雷德说话直率，直截了当，总是把自己的想法原原本本说出来。他是那种一诺千金的人，”上世纪70年代就认识麦库姆斯的克里尔说，“他是商界巨人，是一位取得了非凡成功的商人。未来几十年，人们仍会以他的商业生涯为榜样。”
克里尔表示，在许多塑造圣安东尼奥面貌的公共事务中，麦库姆斯都发挥了举足轻重的作用。他是组织1968年半球博览会的圣安东尼奥领袖之一。这场国际盛会让世界认识了这座现代旅游城市。
“他是这个社区的一位巨人，”克里尔说，“坦白说，我不认为还会再有一个像他这样的人。”
得克萨斯州西部的童年
麦库姆斯说，自己从10岁起就是个生意人。他自称“卖车的”，而且卖得相当出色。
“后来的一切——投资牧场、石油和天然气、电影、多媒体公司、两支 NBA 球队，以及明尼苏达维京人队——都始于一个让我颇感自豪的事实：人们愿意从我手里买二手车，也愿意买新车，”他在2002年出版、与米奇·赫斯科维茨 (Mickey Herskowitz) 合著的自传《红色地带：汽车、牛群与教练》中写道。
麦库姆斯手持一张“WinGo”票券，资料照片，拍摄日期不详。
“大萧条在我的脑海中留下了烙印，它会永远留在那里，”他写道。
比利·乔·麦库姆斯于1927年10月19日出生在斯珀镇，那是得克萨斯州西部一个以农牧业为生的小镇。他小时候做过各种工作：卖一袋5美分的烤花生、修剪草坪、帮顾客搬运杂货，还当过快餐厨师。
麦库姆斯是家中四个孩子里的老大。他送过《拉伯克雪崩日报》，找到更好的工作后，还试着以50美元卖掉自己负责的送报路线。
这些都是他15岁之前做的事。15岁时，他得到了“镇上最好的工作”——在药店干活，每天能赚1美元。
麦库姆斯提到，当时父亲当汽车修理工，一周能赚25美元。但后来全家搬到科珀斯克里斯蒂，他只好离开这份梦寐以求的工作，而他起初并不乐意搬家。
不过，在北海滩散步、结识新朋友之后，麦库姆斯写道：“我觉得科珀斯克里斯蒂才是属于我的天地，因为以前我根本没意识到，得克萨斯州的斯珀镇之外，还有这样一个世界。”
正是在科珀斯克里斯蒂，他遇见并爱上了夏琳·汉布林 (Charline Hamblin)，两人于1950年结婚。她于2019年末去世。
他凭借橄榄球奖学金进入位于乔治敦的西南大学，尽管他在书中写道：“我知道，作为运动员，我也就是个平庸水平。”
在1946年和1947年服完两年陆军兵役后，麦库姆斯进入得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校就读。
在西南大学的短暂求学经历，让麦库姆斯明白：“当你有能力时，就应当回馈那些曾引导你走上正途的人和地方。”
他与妻子于1981年创办麦库姆斯基金会。到2001年，该基金会已在向得克萨斯州提供资助的美国前50家基金会中排名第15。
汽车生意
麦库姆斯于1950年进入汽车行业。当时，科珀斯克里斯蒂的一位朋友说服他去当销售，理由是这份工作能赚钱，而且“他们还会给我们一辆新车开”。
从零部件到会计核算，麦库姆斯摸清了这门生意的方方面面，也发现自己喜欢卖车。
当时，全国汽车销售员的平均销量是每月10辆。麦库姆斯给自己定下的目标是每天卖一辆。
“连续三年，我每个月都卖出31辆车。直到今天，我还保留着所有工资单，因为我为它们感到骄傲，”他说。
他说服一位银行家贷给自己1.25万美元后，创办了自己的公司——麦库姆斯二手车行。他很快还清贷款，又开了第二家车行。
奥斯汀的达雷尔·K·罗亚尔—得克萨斯纪念体育场内，矗立着麦库姆斯的雕像。他长期为得克萨斯大学的体育事业提供资金支持。麦库姆斯于2023年2月19日星期日去世，享年95岁。
麦库姆斯是全美第一个获得福特埃德塞尔汽车经销权的人。
但不到一个月，他就意识到这款车是个败笔，消费者并不买账。
用他的话说，就是“狗不爱吃这款狗粮”。
1958年，麦库姆斯来到圣安东尼奥，帮助昔日的导师奥斯汀·亨普希尔 (Austin Hemphill) 摆脱困境。
“奥斯汀·亨普希尔是我唯一给他打过工的人，”2005年3月，麦库姆斯在 KLRN 电视台《对话》节目中对亨利·西斯内罗斯 (Henry Cisneros) 说，“他对我来说就像父亲一样。”
到亨普希尔那里工作的第一天，16名销售员中就有11人离职。留下的五个人后来在麦库姆斯的帮助下，都成了成功的汽车经销商。
通过在摇滚乐电台主持人里奇·韦尔 (Ricci Ware) 的节目中连续两周密集宣传，麦库姆斯扭转了亨普希尔生意低迷的局面。
他的秘诀是什么？“面向全美国销售任何东西，态度都是最关键的因素。态度是装不出来的。”
1963年，成为福特经销商仅五年后，麦库姆斯就当选为福特经销商委员会主席。
他一度拥有50家汽车经销店。
虽然从不后悔，但麦库姆斯也有自己所谓的“那一份错失的机会”。例如，上世纪60年代，福特邀请他在加利福尼亚州、菲尼克斯、拉斯维加斯和阿尔伯克基开设经销店，他都没有接受。
他还错过了大众汽车在休斯敦的特许经销权，因为他不认为美国人会买那种长得像甲虫的汽车。
他也差点错过日本小型车，直到亲眼看见这类车有多受消费者欢迎。
广播与体育
麦库姆斯还涉足牧场经营、雷德·麦库姆斯石油公司、房地产和传媒。1972年，他与洛瑞·梅斯 (Lowry Mays) 共同创办了清晰频道通信公司。
“我们用12.5万美元，从一家小小的调频广播电台起步，而且这些钱全是借来的，”他在《对话》节目中对西斯内罗斯说。这门生意后来发展成为横跨广播、电视和户外广告牌业务的全球帝国。
当87岁的梅斯于9月去世时，麦库姆斯表示，他是“一位出色的商业伙伴，但更重要的是，他是夏琳和我非常特别的一位朋友”。
麦库姆斯出席牲畜展销活动，资料照片，拍摄日期不详。他于2023年2月19日星期日去世，享年95岁。
麦库姆斯进入体育领域，源于西南大学的昔日同学鲍勃·哈姆里克 (Bob Hamric) 向他提出收购 A 级小联盟棒球队科珀斯克里斯蒂快船的计划。1953年，麦库姆斯以1万美元完成了收购。
球队赢得了季后赛和大州联盟冠军，两位合伙人——麦库姆斯与哈姆里克——也还清了债务和银行贷款。
麦库姆斯与马刺的缘分始于1973年。当时，已故的安杰洛·德罗索斯 (Angelo Drossos) 说服他，将美国篮球协会（ABA）的达拉斯丛林队迁至圣安东尼奥。
按照计划，投资者将以80万美元租借球队，麦库姆斯担任球队总裁，承担第一年25%的亏损，其余部分由另外26名合伙人分担。
贝克萨县前县长纳尔逊·沃尔夫 (Nelson Wolff) 认为，将球队迁至圣安东尼奥，是麦库姆斯为城市作出的最大贡献之一。“马刺一直是圣安东尼奥极为宝贵的资产，”他说。
“他直言不讳，会让所有人知道自己的信念，这很好，”沃尔夫补充道，“他是个极具传奇色彩的人物。”
夏琳曾提醒丈夫，自己不会去看球队所有的主场比赛，但后来也爱上了这支球队。夫妇俩对自己拥有的球队事事上心、亲力亲为。
1983年，麦库姆斯将所持马刺股份出售给德罗索斯，并收购了丹佛掘金。五年后，他卖掉掘金，重新买下马刺，以免球队离开圣安东尼奥。
一向不按常理出牌的麦库姆斯，在1992年末聘请了正在戒除毒瘾的前球员约翰·卢卡斯 (John Lucas)，接替杰里·塔卡尼安 (Jerry Tarkanian) 担任马刺主教练。
卢卡斯是马刺队史首位黑人主教练。
“我以前就说过：我这辈子做过的所有事情，没有哪件能像拥有一支体育球队这样，让我肾上腺素飙升，”麦库姆斯说。
他曾接近收购丹佛野马，并试图请时任美国职业橄榄球大联盟（NFL）总裁皮特·罗泽尔 (Pete Rozelle) 帮忙。
“我甚至已经和圣安东尼奥学区达成协议，要把阿拉莫体育场的看台扩建成两层，”他在 KLRN 的节目中说。
1998年，他以2.46亿美元收购了 NFL 明尼苏达维京人队。在他接手后的第一个赛季，球队就时隔十多年再次闯入国联冠军赛。
不过，在麦库姆斯拥有球队的七年里，维京人两次打进国联冠军赛，最终都输了。
2005年，麦库姆斯将维京人出售给由新泽西州房地产开发商齐格蒙特·“齐吉”·威尔夫 (Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf) 牵头的财团。
“拥有一支 NFL 球队曾是我的梦想，”他在宣布出售球队时说，“这绝对是体育世界的最高峰。我们实现了这个目标，几乎找到了自己想要的一切，收获甚至超出了预期。那是一段非常、非常美好的旅程。”
伦敦劳合社
这位喜欢冒险的人，还作出了或许是他一生中最大的一次冒险：成为全球领先保险交易市场伦敦劳合社的会员。
劳合社并不把自己称为保险公司。它通过由承保企业和被称为“Names”的富裕个人组成的辛迪加，安排保险和再保险业务。
这些个人会员承担的责任极大。正如麦库姆斯所说，每位会员都必须承诺，“一旦被要求，就交出自己的全部净资产”。
他表示，自己加入劳合社，是因为“在我的一生中，偶尔会遇到一些可能让我倾家荡产的机会，而我发现自己很难抗拒”。
在争取了两年之后，他终于获准成为劳合社会员，可能也是唯一一个将全部身家与伦敦劳合社绑在一起的圣安东尼奥人。
他说，这是“我做过的所有交易中，最有格调的一笔”。
麦库姆斯曾这样形容自己：“我个头大，生活也要过得气派。我喜欢与人交往，也不怕人多。我心情好的时候，正常说话的声音就能把三一河上的鸟都吓飞。”
麦库姆斯热衷收藏，自称对收藏的投入“介于狂热和痴迷之间”。他喜欢让孩子们来欣赏自己珍藏的银器、得克萨斯州历史文物、美国西部文物和古董枪械。
麦库姆斯曾经酗酒，后来成功戒酒。1977年，他因肝炎住院，此后再也没有喝过一滴酒。
他曾担任位于休斯敦的得克萨斯大学 MD 安德森癌症中心顾问委员会主席。
2001年，美国国家橄榄球基金会向麦库姆斯颁发了该机构的最高荣誉——金质奖章。
他的身后家属包括三个女儿：琳达·麦库姆斯 (Lynda McCombs)、玛莎·希尔兹和康妮·麦克纳布 (Connie McNab)，以及八名孙辈和十一名曾孙辈。截至周一下午，葬礼安排尚未确定。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：‘Red’ McCombs, San Antonio business and Spurs icon, dies at 95
‘Red’ McCombs, San Antonio business and Spurs icon, dies at 95
Billy Joe “Red” McCombs answers questions from the media during his 90th birthday celebration held Monday October 16, 2017 at Magnolia Halle. Red’s birthday is Oct. 19th.
Editor’s note: This story first was published on Feb. 20, 2023.
B.J. “Red” McCombs, a self-described “car peddler” who built an empire that included auto dealerships, communications, sports teams, oil and gas exploration, real estate and ranching, has died.
He died Feb. 19, 2023, at home, his family said, “surrounded by loved ones.”
“We mourn the loss of a Texas icon,” the family said in a statement. “Red was a visionary entrepreneur who touched many lives and impacted our community in immeasurable ways.”
Known by his nickname — and sometimes “Big Red,” as the writer James Michener once noted — McCombs was quintessentially Texan.
On ExpressNews.com: Popovich honors McCombs on former Spurs owner’s 95th birthday
Always colorful and with a booming voice, the tall, blustery optimist moved easily between the worlds of cars, sports and business.
Charline McCombs looks on as her husband Billy Joe “Red” McCombs jokes with Trini Gutierrez, Red McCombs Ford lot inventory manager, during Red’s 90th birthday celebration held Monday October 16, 2017 at Magnolia Halle. McCombs died Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, at the age of 95.
A child of the Depression, he became a billionaire, one of three from San Antonio included on the 2022 Forbes list of richest people in the world. The ranking put his net worth at $1.7 billion.
McCombs made a lot of money but gave a lot away, too.
The thing about Red McCombs is it’s impossible to reduce his impact to just one headline. If you live in San Antonio, or if you root for the Spurs, or if you went to UT business school, or if you played softball for the Longhorns, he changed things for you. Often in a big way.
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) February 20, 2023
A $50 million donation in 2000 made him the namesake of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. It was the largest single donation in the university’s history.
In 2005, McCombs and his wife Charline gave $30 million to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The largest gift the institution had received for cancer research fueled the creation of the Red and Charline McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer.
McCombs said he made the unsolicited donation because of the way cancer affects a family, not just the patient.
“There’s never been a predator like cancer,” he told Hearst Newspapers. “It’s the great thief crossing our borders, robbing Texas of its precious assets. We want to see M.D. Anderson’s slogan of ‘Making Cancer History’ become a reality.”
Billy Joe “Red” McCombs, pictured as a red-haired infant in his hometown of Spur, played football and was a Boy Scout before he grew up to be a successful businessman and philanthropist. McCombs died Sunday, Feb.19, 2023, at the age of 95.
One of his daughters, Marsha McCombs Shields, was treated at M.D. Anderson.
The McCombs family and the McCombs Foundation — the family’s primary philanthropy arm — have contributed more than $135 million since 1981 to civic causes in San Antonio and across Texas, according to McCombs Enterprises.
On ExpressNews.com: Red McCombs, wife receive CIC philanthropy award
Mayor Ron Nirenberg called McCombs “a pillar of San Antonio’s modern history and a titan of our local economy.”
“He was a go-getter and expected community leaders to go get it,” Nirenberg said. “And if you did, then you earned his respect. He worked hard to reach the heights that he believed that we could reach.”
Joe Krier, a former president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and onetime city councilman, said McCombs was “a guy who was a visionary in business and a visionary in community.”
“Red was blunt, straightforward, always said exactly what he thought — somebody whose word was his bond,” said Krier, who got to know McCombs in the 1970s. “He was a titan of business, an incredibly successful businessman that people will be modeling their business careers after for decades to come.”
McCombs played an outsize role in many civic initiatives that shaped San Antonio, Krier said. McCombs was one of the San Antonio leaders who organized HemisFair ’68, the international event that introduced the city as a modern tourism destination.
“He was a giant in this community,” Krier said. “Frankly, I don’t think there will ever be another one like him.”
West Texas boyhood
McCombs, who said he had been an entrepreneur from the time he was 10, called himself a “car peddler’’ and was a good one.
“Everything that followed — investments in cattle ranches, oil and gas, motion pictures, a multimedia company, two NBA teams, and the Minnesota Vikings — all started with one flattering fact: people would buy a used car from me or a new one,” he said in his 2002 autobiography, “The Red Zone: Cars, Cows and Coaches,” co-written with Mickey Herskowitz.
B.J. “Red” McCombs holds “WinGo” ticket in an undated file photo.
“The Depression left its stamp on my brain, and it will always be there,” he wrote.
On ExpressNews.com: Judge: San Antonio billionaire Red McCombs’ firm must pay foes’ legal fees
Born Oct. 19, 1927, in Spur, a small West Texas town devoted to farming and ranching, Billy Joe McCombs held a succession of jobs as a youngster: he sold roasted peanuts for 5 cents a bag; mowed lawns; carried out groceries and was a short order cook.
The oldest of four children, McCombs delivered the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, and when he moved on to a better job, tried to sell the route for $50.
He did all that before he was 15, when he got the “best job in town’’ — working in the drugstore, where he earned $1 a day.
At the time, McCombs noted, his father was making $25 a week as an auto mechanic. But he left his dream job when the family relocated to Corpus Christi, a move he wasn’t happy about making.
But after a walk on North Beach and meeting new friends, McCombs wrote, “I decided my whole world belonged in Corpus because I just hadn’t realized there was anything else but Spur, Texas.”
It was in Corpus Christi that he met and fell in love with Charline Hamblin, the woman he married in 1950. She died in late 2019.
On ExpressNews.com: ‘We adored her’: San Antonio eulogizes Charline McCombs
He attended Southwestern University in Georgetown on a football scholarship, even though, he wrote, “I knew I was not much more than mediocre as an athlete.”
After completing two years in the Army — 1946 and 1947 — McCombs attended UT Austin.
The brief time he spent at Southwestern taught McCombs that “when you can afford it, you need to give something back to the people and places that put you on the right path.”
He and his wife founded the McCombs Foundation in 1981. By 2001, the foundation was listed as 15th out of the top 50 U.S. foundations awarding grants in Texas.
Auto business
McCombs entered the car business in 1950, when a friend in Corpus Christi convinced him there was money to be made as a salesman and “they give us a new car to drive.”
McCombs learned all the ins and outs of the business, from parts to accounting, and discovered he liked selling cars.
Back then, the national sales average was 10 cars per month. McCombs set a goal of selling one car a day.
“I sold 31 cars a month for three years, and I still have all my pay slips to this day because I was proud of them,” he said.
After convincing a banker to give him a $12,500 loan, McCombs opened his own business — McCombs Used Cars. The loan was repaid quickly and he opened a second lot.
A statue of B.J. “Red” McCombs resides at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. McCombs is a longtime financial supporter of University of Texas athletics. McCombs died Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, at the age of 95.
McCombs was the first person in the country awarded a Ford Edsel dealership.
But within a month, McCombs realized the car was a fiasco and buyers were not enthusiastic.
On ExpressNews.com: McCombs celebrates his 90th with his employees
As he put it, “The dogs didn’t like the dog food.”
McCombs came to San Antonio in 1958 to help his old mentor, Austin Hemphill, out of a jam.
“Austin Hemphill was the only man I ever worked for,” McCombs told Henry Cisneros when he appeared on the KLRN-TV program “Conversations” in March 2005. “He was like a father to me.”
On his first day with Hemphill, 11 out of 16 salesmen walked out. The five that remained later became successful dealers with McCombs’ help.
A two-week publicity blitz on rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey Ricci Ware’s radio show led to McCombs turning arounf Hemphill’s ailing business.
His secret? “Attitude is absolutely the most critical element in selling anything to all of America. You can’t fake attitude.”
McCombs was elected chairman of the Ford Dealer Council in 1963, just five years after becoming a Ford dealer.
At one time, he owned 50 dealerships.
Though he never had any regrets, McCombs had what he referred to as his “own quota of missed opportunities.” These included passing up invitations by Ford to open dealerships in California, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Albuquerque in the 1960s.
He also missed out on the Volkswagen franchises for Houston because he didn’t think Americans would ever buy the beetle-shaped cars.
Japanese compact cars were another near-miss until he saw how popular these were with consumers.
Radio, sports
McCombs also had interests in ranching, Red McCombs Oil, real estate and communications. In 1972, he co-founded Clear Channel Communications Inc. with Lowry Mays.
“We started with a little FM station with $125,000, all borrowed,” he told Cisneros on “Conversations.” The business grew into a global radio, television and billboard advertising empire.
When Lowry, 87, died in September, McCombs said he was “a great business partner but more importantly he was a special friend to Charline and me.”
B.J. “Red” McCombs at Livestock Show and Sale in an undated file photo. McCombs died Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, at the age of 95.
McCombs’ entry into sports came after Bob Hamric, a former classmate at Southwestern, pitched McCombs a plan to purchase the Class A Corpus Christi Clippers, which he did in 1953 for $10,000.
On ExpressNews.com: McComb’s collection of 6,000+ pieces is the product of decades of passion
The team won the playoffs and the Big State League championship and the partners — McCombs and Hamric — paid the debts and a bank loan.
McCombs’ association with the Spurs began in 1973, when the late Angelo Drossos convinced him to move the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association to San Antonio.
The plan was for investors to lease the team for $800,000. McCombs would become president and cover 25 percent of the team’s losses the first year and the 26 other partners the rest.
Former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff counts McComb’s relocation of the team to San Antonio as one of his greatest civic accomplishments. “The Spurs have been a tremendous asset to San Antonio,” he said.
“He was outspoken and let everybody know what he believed, which is good,” Wolff added. “He was bigger than life.”
Charline McCombs, who had warned her husband she would not be attending all the team’s home games, grew to love the team, and she and her husband became a “hands-on couple” with the teams they owned.
McCombs sold his interest in the Spurs in 1983 to Drossos and bought the Denver Nuggets. Five years later, he sold the Nuggets and repurchased the Spurs so the team wouldn’t leave San Antonio.
Always unconventional, McCombs hired John Lucas, a recovering addict and former player, to replace Jerry Tarkanian as coach of the Spurs in late 1992.
Lucas was the first Black head coach in Spurs history.
“I’ve said it before: Of all the things I’ve done in my life, nothing makes the adrenaline flow like owning a sports team,” McCombs said.
He came close to buying the Denver Broncos and tried to get Pete Rozelle, then the National Football League commissioner, to help.
“I even had a deal with the San Antonio School District to double-deck Alamo Stadium,” the businessman said on the KLRN program.
He acquired the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings in 1998 for $246 million. That first season under his ownership, the team made it to the NFC Championship for the first time in more than a decade.
Still, the team lost two NFC Championship games during the seven years McCombs owned the team.
In 2005, McCombs sold the Vikings to a group headed by New Jersey real estate developer Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf.
“To own an NFL team was a dream of mine,” he said when he announced the sale of the franchise. “It is the absolute top of the mountain in sports. We accomplished that and found about everything that we were looking for and then some. It’s been a great, great run.”
Lloyd’s of London
The man who liked to take risks took on what may have been the largest one in his life. He became a member of Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading insurance exchange.
Lloyd’s does not call itself an insurance company. It arranges for insurance and reinsurance coverage through syndicates of corporate underwriters and wealthy individuals known as “Names.’’
The liability of the “Names’’ is such that, as McCombs noted, each member must pledge “to surrender his entire net worth if called upon to do so.’’
He joined Lloyd’s, he said, because “In my lifetime, I have on occasion found it hard to resist a proposition that gives me a chance to go broke.’’
After two years of courting Lloyd’s, he was accepted as a member, probably the only San Antonian who ever bound his entire fortune to Lloyd’s of London.
It was, he said, “the deal with the most class of any I ever made.’’
McCombs described himself this way: “I’m big. I live big. I enjoy people, don’t mind crowds. When I’m in a good mood, the normal force of my voice can frighten the birds off the Trinity River.’’
A passionate collector — he said he ranked “somewhere between avid and obsessed’’ — McCombs enjoyed having schoolchildren see his prized silver, Texana, western Americana and antique gun collections.
McCombs was a reformed alcoholic. In 1977, he landed in the hospital with hepatitis and did not take another drink after that.
He served as chairman of the Board of Visitors of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
In 2001, the National Football Foundation presented McCombs with its highest award — the Gold Medal.
He is survived by his daughters Lynda McCombs, Marsha Shields and Connie McNab; eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Services had not been set as of Monday afternoon.
By Carmina Danini, Staff writers / San Antonio Express-News
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95岁真高寿，中途出售马刺队购买掘金队不知什么原因。
我查过这个事情，主要是因为当时马刺股东众多，他只是股东之一，没有绝对的控股权和决策权，很多事情都要和其他股东商量决定。当时买掘金队，让他可以拿到绝对控股权和决策权，而且当时他在科罗拉多也有很多生意。
具体见ChatGPT：
可以把这两次收购理解成两种不同的动机：
买丹佛掘金，更像是“商业机会 + 他对职业体育经营的痴迷”；买明尼苏达维京人，则更像是实现一个长期的 NFL 老板梦想。
1. 1982 年为什么离开马刺、买 Denver Nuggets？
一个很重要的背景是：McCombs 当时本来就在科罗拉多有相当深的商业联系。
到 1982 年，他和妻子 Charline 已经在 Colorado 拥有牧场，而且 McCombs 在 Denver 还有 Subaru 汽车经销业务。也就是说，Denver 并不是他突然看中的一个陌生城市。UT Austin 对他的生平回顾也特意把这些事情放在一起叙述：有 Colorado ranch、有 Denver Subaru distributorship，然后当年收购 Nuggets。
更关键的是，当时的 Nuggets 是一个典型的“困境资产”。
虽然球队竞技成绩不差，但财务非常困难，原所有权集团需要继续注资。相关历史资料显示，球队老板 Carl Scheer 的集团资金吃紧，很多股东希望退出，于是有人向 McCombs 推荐了这个机会。他最终承担球队债务、支付有限现金，取得球队控制权。
这正符合 McCombs 一贯的投资风格。他喜欢寻找别人觉得麻烦、但他认为可以通过经营和营销扭转的资产。他后来在回忆录里直接说：
“My favorite business … is the sports business.”
原因就是经营体育球队带给他的刺激和兴奋感，是其他生意无法相比的。
所以他从马刺转去掘金，不能简单理解成“他更喜欢掘金”。更接近于：
他当时在马刺只是重要股东之一，而 Denver 给了他取得一整支 NBA 球队控制权的机会；同时他在 Colorado 已经有商业基础，而 Nuggets 又正处于财务困境、价格具有吸引力。
1982 年的一篇报道也特别强调，McCombs 买 Nuggets 不是为了满足虚荣心，他自己说对 Denver 非常有热情，但同时清楚职业篮球这个行业存在严重的经营问题。
而且后来他其实后悔卖掉了 Nuggets。1985 年 Nuggets 打到西部决赛后，他把球队出售；后来他把卖掉那支球队称为自己最大的商业错误之一。
2. 为什么后来又回到马刺？
这也能反过来说明，他并不是因为不喜欢马刺才离开的。
卖掉 Nuggets 后，他重新买入 Spurs 股份，之后在 1988 年以约 4700 万美元完全买下马刺。
而 Express-News 的另一篇回顾甚至指出，他重新买回马刺，与确保球队不会离开 San Antonio有关。
所以他的 NBA 所有权轨迹其实很有意思：
Spurs → Nuggets → Spurs
这不像一个普通球队老板，更像一个职业体育“连续创业者”。
3. 1998 年为什么又去买 Minnesota Vikings？
这个动机反而非常明确：
McCombs 一直梦想拥有一支 NFL 球队。
他后来卖 Vikings 时自己总结说：
“To own an NFL team was a dream of mine.”
而且他把 NFL 球队所有权形容成职业体育里的：
“the absolute top of the mountain”
也就是在他心里，拥有 NFL 球队是体育老板能够达到的最高峰。
这并不是 1998 年突然出现的想法。
在买 Vikings 之前很多年，他就曾经试图买 Denver Broncos，甚至寻求当时 NFL 总裁 Pete Rozelle 的帮助。他还长期希望 San Antonio 能拥有一支 NFL 球队，甚至曾设想扩建 Alamo Stadium。
所以到了 1998 年，Minnesota Vikings 出售时，对 McCombs 来说是一个很难拒绝的机会。
原来有 10 个不同的股东共同拥有 Vikings，球队决定出售。作家 Tom Clancy 最初以约 2 亿美元达成购买协议，但交易因为其财务问题最终失败。McCombs 随后以大约 2.5 亿美元击败包括 Minnesota Timberwolves 老板 Glen Taylor 在内的竞争者拿下球队。
1998 年 7 月，NFL 全体老板一致批准交易。
4. 他买 Vikings 是不是想搬到 San Antonio？
这里需要特别区分。
他确实长期想让 San Antonio 拥有 NFL 球队，但没有充分证据证明他在 1998 年买 Vikings 的主要目的就是把球队搬走。
恰恰相反，他收购时公开承诺：
Vikings 会留在 Minnesota。
当时外界当然非常怀疑——一个长期想把 NFL 带到 San Antonio 的得州富豪突然买了 Vikings，很容易让人产生联想。但 McCombs 当时明确告诉明尼苏达球迷：
“The Vikings belong in Minnesota.”
他甚至驾车在 Minnesota 各地跑了超过 1,000 英里，与球迷接触，还请 Bud Grant、Alan Page、Jim Marshall 等 Vikings 老人与球队重新建立联系，提出 “Purple Pride” 的概念。
因此至少在刚收购时，他是在认真经营 Minnesota Vikings，而不是公开推进搬迁。
而且非常巧的是，他买下 Vikings 的第一个赛季就是著名的 1998 年 Vikings：
Randall Cunningham、Cris Carter、Robert Smith，再加上新秀 Randy Moss，球队打出 15胜1负，创造当时 NFL 单赛季 556 分的得分纪录，最后打到 NFC Championship Game。
对一个刚实现 NFL 老板梦想的人来说，这几乎是梦幻开局。
5. 但后来 San Antonio 搬迁传闻为什么越来越多？
核心不是他突然不喜欢 Minnesota，而是：
新球场。
Vikings 当时使用的是 Metrodome。McCombs 认为这个球场在包厢、商业收入等方面严重落后于 NFL 新球场，他希望 Minnesota 政府支持建设新体育场。
他甚至公开说：
“We will not survive in the Metrodome.”
而 Minnesota 州政府，尤其是州长 Jesse Ventura，对使用公共资金建球场非常抵触。McCombs 与当地政府因此长期冲突。与此同时，Vikings 还在 2001 年到 San Antonio Alamodome 打了一场季前赛，进一步强化了“McCombs 会不会把 Vikings 搬回 Texas”的猜测。
但最终他没有搬队。
新球场计划迟迟没有成功，McCombs 最终在 2005 年把 Vikings 卖给 Zygi Wilf 的集团，结束七年老板生涯。
所以如果把 Spurs → Nuggets → Spurs → Vikings 放在一起看，McCombs 的逻辑其实非常清楚：
Spurs 是他与 San Antonio 的感情和城市建设项目，他帮助把职业体育真正带到这座城市。
Nuggets 更多是一次典型的 McCombs 式商业机会：他在 Colorado 已经有生意，碰上一支财务困难但有潜力的 NBA 球队，于是取得完整控制权。
而 Vikings 则属于个人梦想。对一个已经两次拥有 NBA 球队的人来说，NFL 是他眼中的职业体育最高峰。
这也解释了为什么 McCombs 这种老板和普通“有钱后买支球队”的富豪有点不同。职业体育本身就是他最喜欢经营的生意之一。他自己说得很直接：没有什么生意像拥有体育球队一样让他的 adrenaline flow。
而在这三支球队中，真正带有最深个人情感的，仍然明显是马刺。 他晚年说过，自己一生在 San Antonio 参与的所有事情中，如果问哪一件最重要，他会毫不犹豫回答：Spurs。
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谢谢瓜哥科普。