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Virginia Squires
The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1970 to 1976.
The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, an ABA charter franchise based in Oakland, California. They moved to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Caps in 1969 but moved to Norfolk the following year, becoming the Squires. As a regional team, they played home games in Richmond, Hampton, and Roanoke as well as a season with Norfolk. The team folded in 1976, just a month before the ABA–NBA merger commenced.
The Squires were founded in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a charter member of the ABA. The team colors were green and gold. An earlier Oakland Oaks basketball team played in the American Basketball League (1961–62) in 1962. (The short-lived league folded on December 31, 1962.)
The Oaks were owned in part by pop singer Pat Boone. There was a major contract dispute with the cross-bay San Francisco Warriors of the established National Basketball Association over the rights to star player Rick Barry. He was a former NBA Rookie of the Year who had led the Warriors to the NBA Finals in the same year the Oaks had formed, but due to being angered by management's failure to pay him certain incentive awards he felt he was due, he sat out the 1967–68 season, and the following season joined the Oaks, leading the franchise to its one and only ABA championship in 1969.
However, even with Barry the team proved to be a very poor investment for Boone and his co-owners. Despite winning the ABA championship, the Oaks were an abysmal failure at the box office, due in large part to the proximity of the NBA Warriors who at the time were also playing some home games in Oakland (and would eventually move to Oakland in 1971). At one point they only drew 2,500 fans per game.
Facing foreclosure due to a major loan from the Bank of America, Boone sold the team to Washington, D.C. lawyer Earl Foreman, who moved the team to Washington for the 1969–70 season as the Washington Caps. The team colors of green and gold were retained, but the logo was a red, white, and blue rendition of the United States Capitol. They played at the Washington Coliseum. However, for reasons that remain unknown, they remained in the Western Division—forcing them on the longest road trips in the league. Attendance was no better in Washington than it was in Oakland. The Coliseum had been built in 1941, and had not aged well. In a case of exceptionally bad timing, the Caps arrived at a time when the surrounding Near Northeast neighborhood was still recovering from the 1968 race riots. Fears that the neighborhood wasn't safe dragged down attendance. They managed to finish four games above .500, but lost in the first round to the powerful Denver Rockets.
Merger talks with the NBA were already underway entering the 1970s, but a major stumbling block was the presence of the Caps in Washington. Baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin wanted to move his team to Washington, but did not want the Caps there. The other ABA owners persuaded Foreman to move the Caps for the second time in as many seasons. Foreman decided to make the Caps a regional franchise, the Virginia Squires.
The team would be based in Norfolk and played most of their games at the Norfolk Scope and the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse. They also played home games in Hampton at the Hampton Coliseum, in Richmond at the Richmond Coliseum, and in Roanoke at the Roanoke Civic Center. However, Roanoke was dropped from the list of "home" cities after only one season of play there. The Squires' colors were red, white, and blue. Branding as a statewide team ultimately cost the Squires any goodwill they might have otherwise earned from Pollin. While the Squires never played any games in Northern Virginia, Pollin still believed the team was making a brazen attempt at prying away fans who otherwise mostly support Washington sports teams. He thus strenuously objected to Virginia being part of any merger with the NBA (to the point where the first merger plan in 1971 sought to exclude the Squires franchise unless they moved to a new location instead).
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Virginia Squires
The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1970 to 1976.
The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, an ABA charter franchise based in Oakland, California. They moved to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Caps in 1969 but moved to Norfolk the following year, becoming the Squires. As a regional team, they played home games in Richmond, Hampton, and Roanoke as well as a season with Norfolk. The team folded in 1976, just a month before the ABA–NBA merger commenced.
The Squires were founded in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a charter member of the ABA. The team colors were green and gold. An earlier Oakland Oaks basketball team played in the American Basketball League (1961–62) in 1962. (The short-lived league folded on December 31, 1962.)
The Oaks were owned in part by pop singer Pat Boone. There was a major contract dispute with the cross-bay San Francisco Warriors of the established National Basketball Association over the rights to star player Rick Barry. He was a former NBA Rookie of the Year who had led the Warriors to the NBA Finals in the same year the Oaks had formed, but due to being angered by management's failure to pay him certain incentive awards he felt he was due, he sat out the 1967–68 season, and the following season joined the Oaks, leading the franchise to its one and only ABA championship in 1969.
However, even with Barry the team proved to be a very poor investment for Boone and his co-owners. Despite winning the ABA championship, the Oaks were an abysmal failure at the box office, due in large part to the proximity of the NBA Warriors who at the time were also playing some home games in Oakland (and would eventually move to Oakland in 1971). At one point they only drew 2,500 fans per game.
Facing foreclosure due to a major loan from the Bank of America, Boone sold the team to Washington, D.C. lawyer Earl Foreman, who moved the team to Washington for the 1969–70 season as the Washington Caps. The team colors of green and gold were retained, but the logo was a red, white, and blue rendition of the United States Capitol. They played at the Washington Coliseum. However, for reasons that remain unknown, they remained in the Western Division—forcing them on the longest road trips in the league. Attendance was no better in Washington than it was in Oakland. The Coliseum had been built in 1941, and had not aged well. In a case of exceptionally bad timing, the Caps arrived at a time when the surrounding Near Northeast neighborhood was still recovering from the 1968 race riots. Fears that the neighborhood wasn't safe dragged down attendance. They managed to finish four games above .500, but lost in the first round to the powerful Denver Rockets.
Merger talks with the NBA were already underway entering the 1970s, but a major stumbling block was the presence of the Caps in Washington. Baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin wanted to move his team to Washington, but did not want the Caps there. The other ABA owners persuaded Foreman to move the Caps for the second time in as many seasons. Foreman decided to make the Caps a regional franchise, the Virginia Squires.
The team would be based in Norfolk and played most of their games at the Norfolk Scope and the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse. They also played home games in Hampton at the Hampton Coliseum, in Richmond at the Richmond Coliseum, and in Roanoke at the Roanoke Civic Center. However, Roanoke was dropped from the list of "home" cities after only one season of play there. The Squires' colors were red, white, and blue. Branding as a statewide team ultimately cost the Squires any goodwill they might have otherwise earned from Pollin. While the Squires never played any games in Northern Virginia, Pollin still believed the team was making a brazen attempt at prying away fans who otherwise mostly support Washington sports teams. He thus strenuously objected to Virginia being part of any merger with the NBA (to the point where the first merger plan in 1971 sought to exclude the Squires franchise unless they moved to a new location instead).