Virginia Squires
| Virginia Squires | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Conference | None | |||
| Division | Eastern | |||
| Founded | 1967 | |||
| History |
Oakland Oaks 1967–1969 Washington Caps 1969–1970 Virginia Squires 1970–1976 |
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| Arena |
Norfolk Scope Hampton Coliseum Richmond Coliseum Roanoke Civic Center (1971–72) Old Dominion University Fieldhouse (1970–71) Richmond Arena (1970–71) |
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| Location |
Norfolk, Virginia Hampton, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia |
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| Team colors | 1970–74: Red, White & Blue 1974–75: Orange, Seal Brown & White 1975–76: Blue and Orange |
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| Head coach |
Al Bianchi (1970–1975) Mack Calvin (1975) Bill Musselman (1975–1976) Jack Ankerson (1976) Zelmo Beaty (1976) |
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| Ownership | Earl Foreman 1970–1975 | |||
| Championships | 1 (1969) | |||
| Division titles | 1 (1970–1971) | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
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The Virginia Squires were a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association from 1970 until just before the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.
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 in 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 he 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 on a loan from 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 because the Coliseum was located in the North East Washington area, which was considered to be a bad neighborhood. Miraculously, they managed to finish four games above .500, but lost in the first round to the powerful Denver Rockets.
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