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The Virginia Squires was a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association that existed from 1967 through 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. They were probably noted more for 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 than for any on-court accomplishments. Barry, a former NBA Rookie of the Year who led the Warriors to the NBA finals in 1966-67, was so angered by management's failure to pay him certain incentive awards he felt he was due that he sat out the 1967-68 season. He joined the Oaks in the following year, leading the franchise to its one and only ABA championship in 1968-69.

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. 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 Capital. They played at the old Washington Coliseum. However, for reasons that remain unknown to this day, 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 Near Northeast neighborhood, an area that had gone to seed. Miraculously, 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, 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 didn't 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 move the team's home base to Norfolk, Virginia as the Virginia Squires. However, since Hampton Roads wasn't big enough by itself to support the team, the Squires played home games in Hampton, Richmond, Virginia and Roanoke. However, Roanoke was dropped from the list of "home" cities after only one season. The Squires' colors were red, white, and blue.

Rick Barry, who originally played with the inaugural Oaks, appeared on the August 24, 1970 front cover of Sports Illustrated in a Squires uniform; in the accompanying article inside the magazine, Barry made several negative remarks about the state of Virginia. (He angered sensitive Southerners by remarking that he didn't want his children to grow up saying, "Hi, y'all, Dad.") On September 1, 1970, the Squires traded Barry to the New York Nets for a draft pick and $200,000. The negative comments weren't the primary reason; rather, Foreman was still bogged down by financial troubles and sold Barry to help meet his expenses.

The Squires started their tenure in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia by playing their home games at Old Dominion University's fieldhouse. In spite of the initial controversy surrounding former player Barry, the Squires finished their inaugural season in Virginia by winning the Eastern Division by 11 games. The Squires defeated the New York Nets in the first round of the ABA playoffs but went on to be upset by the Kentucky Colonels. In 1971, the Squires make their biggest draft pick ever by drafting Julius Erving from the University of Massachusetts. During the 1971-72 season, Erving became an instant sensation with his scoring prowess and dazzling on-court acrobatics; the Squires defeated The Floridians in the first round of the playoffs but lost to the New York Nets in the second round.

The 1972-73 season marked the beginning of the Virginia Squires downturn. Although blessed with a combination of Julius Erving ("Dr. J") and a young George Gervin, the duo only played together late in the season. The Squires lost to their division rival Nets in the first round of the playoffs. During the summer of 1973, Dr. J was sold to the New York Nets for cash.

During the 1974 ABA All-Star Weekend, rumors abounded that Gervin was about to be sold to the San Antonio Spurs. These rumors became fact on January 30. ABA commissioner Mike Storen tried to block the sale on the grounds that selling the team's last true star was not in the best interest of the league. However, the sale was eventually upheld.

This angered many Squire fans, and attendance soon plummeted. The Squires' final two seasons in the ABA were forgettable as the losses mounted and popular coach Al Bianchi was fired. As the 1975-76 season came to a close, the sun set on the Squires and the ABA as well. The ABA had four remaining franchises absorbed into the NBA but the Squires were not in that group of teams, having folded after the season. The final legacy of the team was that of early success, potential, and financial mismanagement, a sort of microcosm of the ABA itself.

Former home arenas of the Virginia Squires

• Remember the ABA: Virginia Squires

• Unofficial Virginia Squires homepage