B.J. “Red” McCombs, seen in 2017, was Texan through and through. He was a business visionary who changed the civic landscape in San Antonio and enriched Texas with his philanthropy.The largeness of the man, the sheer space that he, his name and business interests inhabited in San Antonio for the past 65 years reflects B.J. “Red” McCombs’ outsize legacy.
The McCombs empire was a Big Red tree rooted in auto dealerships. But the branches of his fortune extended to oil and gas exploration, real estate, ranching, communications and ownership of sports teams. It is difficult, almost impossible, to overestimate the breadth of his reach. McCombs was one of the major organizers of HemisFair ’68, the world’s fair that introduced San Antonio as a global tourist destination.
In 1976, when the National Basketball Association merged with the ABA, the Spurs were one of the four ABA teams to make the cut. Having brought the team to town, McCombs was also instrumental in keeping them in town and on the path that made the Spurs a dynasty with five NBA titles and multiple Hall of Famers.