Virginia Squires

• 1. Introduction

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  On the 11th of May, 1976, the American Basketball Association canceled the Virginia Squires. The team had failed to cover $120,000 in back pay owed to players and missed a $75,000 league assessment. The timing was particularly bitter. The ABA-NBA merger that would have compensated surviving franchises commenced only a month later. Julius Erving, George Gervin, Charlie Scott, and Larry Brown all wore Virginia Squires uniforms before reaching the Basketball Hall of Fame. Yet the franchise that discovered them never profited from a single one. The team's collapse is a story that begins not in Virginia but in Oakland, California.

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• 2. From Oakland to Washington

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  Pop singer Pat Boone was among the owners when the Oakland Oaks joined the ABA as a charter member in 1967. The cross-bay San Francisco Warriors immediately contested the team's right to sign Rick Barry. Barry was a former NBA Rookie of the Year. He had led the Warriors to the NBA Finals in the same year the Oaks formed. Furious at Warriors management over unpaid incentive awards, Barry sat out the 1967-68 season before joining Oakland. He led the Oaks to their only ABA championship in 1969.

  At one point, the Oaks drew only 2,500 fans per game, a humiliating figure for a championship team. The Warriors were also playing home games in Oakland, competing for the same fan base. Boone and his co-owners faced foreclosure after a major loan from the Bank of America went bad. He sold the franchise to Washington D.C. lawyer Earl Foreman, who moved it east as the Washington Caps for the 1969-70 season.

  The Washington Coliseum, built in 1941, had not aged well. The surrounding Near Northeast neighborhood was still recovering from the 1968 race riots, and fears about safety dragged down gate receipts. Washington proved no more profitable than Oakland. The Caps finished four games above .500 but lost in the first round to the Denver Rockets.

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• 3. Becoming the Squires

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  Baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin wanted to relocate his team to Washington, and the presence of the Caps was a direct obstacle. ABA merger talks with the NBA were already underway, and the other franchise owners pressured Foreman to move again. He agreed, and for the 1970-71 season the franchise became the Virginia Squires, adopting red, white, and blue as a statewide team. Home games spread across Virginia at the Norfolk Scope, the Hampton Roads Coliseum, the Richmond Coliseum, and briefly at the Roanoke Civic Center.

  Rick Barry appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated on the 24th of August, 1970, wearing a Squires uniform. The accompanying article contained several remarks about Virginia that angered residents across the South. Barry was gone barely a week later. On the 1st of September, 1970, Foreman traded Barry to the New York Nets for a draft pick and $200,000. The team officially collected only $25,000 of that amount. Foreman's persistent financial troubles had made the sale unavoidable.

  Despite losing their most recognizable player before the season opened, the Squires won the Eastern Division by 11 games. They defeated the New York Nets in the first round of the playoffs but fell to the Kentucky Colonels in the division finals. Coach Al Bianchi won the ABA Coach of the Year award, and guard Charlie Scott earned the ABA Rookie of the Year honor. The strongest season in Squires history was also their last uncomplicated one.

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• 4. Erving, Gervin, and Gone

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  In 1971, the Squires made the best draft selection in franchise history, taking Julius Erving from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During the 1971-72 season, Dr. J became an instant sensation through his scoring ability and dazzling on-court acrobatics. The team swept the Floridians in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the New York Nets in the second round.

  The 1972-73 season brought George Gervin into the lineup alongside Erving. The two played together only late in the season, but the combination generated genuine excitement. The team finished at .500 and fell to the Kentucky Colonels in the first round. That summer, Foreman traded Erving and Willie Sojourner to the Nets for George Carter and cash.

  During the 1974 ABA All-Star Weekend, rumors spread that Gervin was about to be sold to the San Antonio Spurs. On the 30th of January, the sale was confirmed at $225,000. ABA commissioner Mike Storen attempted to block it, arguing that selling the team's last true star was not in the league's interest. His objection was overruled. The Squires' fan base, which had tolerated the earlier trades hoping the team would stabilize, had little patience left.

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• 5. The Final Collapse

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  The departure of Gervin left the Squires without the talent to compete or attract fans. The 1974-75 and 1975-76 teams combined to win only 30 games, the worst winning percentages in ABA history. Long-time coach Al Bianchi was eventually fired as losses mounted. In 1974, player Barry Parkhill sued the franchise after his paychecks bounced.

  By February 1976, the Squires had nearly shut down entirely, which would have forced the ABA to finish its season with only six teams. The franchise survived by selling advertising banners and taking out a $250,000 loan from a local bank. It bought three more months.

  The Carolina Cougars had already been forcibly relocated to St. Louis by the NBA, despite being one of the league's stronger franchises. The NBA had no interest in regional franchises. No individual Virginia city was large enough to support an NBA team on its own. Even without Pollin's continued opposition, the Squires had no realistic path into the merged league. The franchise's finances had made that impossible. Zelmo Beaty, who coached the Squires through their final 1975-76 season, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

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