 |
| Washington Caps | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Division | Western Division |
| Founded | 1967 |
| History | Oakland Oaks 1967–1969 Washington Caps 1969–1970 Virginia Squires 1970–1976 |
| Arena | Washington Coliseum |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Team colors | Green and yellow |
| Head coach | Al Bianchi |
The Washington Caps were an American Basketball Association team from 1969 through 1970. The franchise had previously been the Oakland Oaks. From 1970 through 1976 the team played as the Virginia Squires. [1]
With the formation of the ABA in February 1967 a team was awarded to Oakland, California for $30,000 with singer Pat Boone as primary owner. The team was originally the Oakland Americans but the name was eventually changed to the Oakland Oaks. NBA superstar Rick Barry signed with the Oaks, as did Steve Jones and Levern Tart. Barry, however, was prevented from playing in the ABA due to a lawsuit brought by his former NBA team (regarding enforcement of the reserve clause in his contract), so he spent the season as an Oaks radio announcer instead of as a player. The Oaks won the very first ABA game in 1967 (a 132–129 victory against the Anaheim Amigos on October 3, 1967. After Barry returned in the 1967–68 season, they breezed through the regular season then won the 1969 ABA Championship over the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs. However, the Bank of America was threatening to foreclose on a $1.2 million loan to the team and in August, 1969, a group of investors led by real estate attorney Earl Foreman bought the team and moved it to Washington, D.C., for the upcoming season. [2]
With the move came a new identity for the team as the green and gold clad Washington Caps. Al Bianchi replaced the more proven Alex Hannum as head coach. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Caps regarding Barry, their top gate attraction, but he openly objected to playing in Washington, D.C., where the team butted heads with the NBA Baltimore Bullets and did not have a suitable arena to play home games. He sat out the first 32 games of the season, but the courts left him with no choice except to report to the team or sit out the season. Barry and Warren Armstrong participated in the ABA All Star game, but injuries limited their playing time for the season.
In March 1970 the ABA-NBA merger appeared close at hand under conditions that would have required the Washington Caps to relocate, but a subsequent lawsuit derailed the merger until June 1976.
In defiance of all geographic reality, the Caps assumed the Oaks' place in the Western Division despite their move to the Eastern Seaboard. This kept them constantly on the road at faraway venues (their nearest divisional rivals, the New Orleans Buccaneers, were over 1,000 miles away) and the travel and time differential took its toll on their play. Playing at Washington Coliseum their average attendance was 2,992 fans per game. 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. Due to the long travel distances involved in divisional play, the Caps played some home games in places like Wichita, Kansas and even Mexico City, Mexico but did not fare well in those supposed home games.
However, due to a solid record in their real home games, the Caps finished the season with 44 wins and 40 losses. The Caps' record put them in third place in the Western Division, 7 games behind the Denver Rockets and one game behind the Dallas Chaparrals. In the 1970 ABA Playoffs the Caps faced the Denver Rockets in the Western Division semifinals and took the series to seven games before losing 143–119 in the finale in Denver.
| Washington Caps Hall of Famers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | ||||
| No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| 24 | Rick Barry | F | 1969–1970 | 1987 |
Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %
| Season | W | L | % | Playoffs | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Caps | |||||
| 1969–70 | 44 | 40 | .524 | Lost Division Semifinals | Denver 4, Washington 3 |
After the conclusion of the 1969–1970 season the Caps were forced to move once again. At the time, merger talks with the NBA were underway, and the owner of the NBA's Baltimore Bullets, Abe Pollin, wanted to move his team to Washington, and didn't want the Caps there. The other ABA owners persuaded Foreman to move the Caps for the second time in as many seasons. (However, the Caps name would be somewhat revived, this time for a National Hockey League expansion team called the Washington Capitals - also owned by Pollin - in 1974. Since then, the Capitals have been co-tenants with the Bullets/Wizards franchise at the Capital Centre and Capital One Arena.)
Foreman decided to make the Caps a regional franchise, the Virginia Squires. While the team would be based in Norfolk and play most of their games at the Norfolk Scope and the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse, they also played home games in Hampton at the Hampton Roads 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. The Squires' colors were red, white, and blue.
The Squires would continue to play in every ABA season through 1976. At the conclusion of the 1975–1976 season the Squires, having fallen on hard times, were unable to make a league-mandated financial assessment. The Squires were disbanded after the season but just prior to the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a men's professional basketball major league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976, resulting in four ABA teams joining the NBA and the introduction of the NBA 3-point shot in 1979.
The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III is an American retired professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the most prolific scorers and all-around players in basketball history. He is the only one to lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ABA, and NBA in points per game in a season. He ranks as the all-time ABA scoring leader in regular season and postseason (33.5) play, while his 36.3 points per game are the most in the NBA Finals history. Barry was also the only player to score at least 50 points in a Game 7 of the playoffs in either league until Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum both reached that mark in 2023. He is one of only four players to be a part of a championship team in both leagues.
The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did not join the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center was the Colonels' venue for their first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the remaining seasons, beginning with the 1970–71 schedule.
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 from 1970 to 1976.
Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed The Arena in Oakland until 2005 and Oracle Arena from 2006 to 2019. It is often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena as it is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex with the adjacent Oakland Coliseum. Oakland Arena seats 19,596 fans for basketball.
The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise in the American Basketball Association that existed from 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Carolina in late 1969 after two unsuccessful seasons in Houston at the Sam Houston Coliseum.
Douglas Edwin Moe is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988.
The Oakland Oaks were a charter member of the original American Basketball Association and the first West Coast basketball team to win a major professional championship. Formed in February 1967, the team played in the ABA during the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The team colors were green and gold.
Alexander Murray Hannum was a professional basketball player and coach. Hannum coached two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and one American Basketball Association (ABA) team to league championships. He had a combined NBA-ABA record of 649–564 (.535) in the regular season and 61–46 (.570) in the playoffs over 16 seasons. In 1998, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.
Warren Jabali was an American basketball player. He played professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1975.
The ABA All-Time Team were chosen in 1997 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the American Basketball Association (ABA). It comprised the 30 best and most influential players of the ABA during its ten years and nine full regular seasons of operation, with respect not only to performance at the professional level but in consideration of sportsmanship, team leadership, and contributions to the growth of the league basketball, and irrespective of positions played. Only players to have played at least a portion of their careers in the ABA were eligible for selection, although performance in other leagues, most notably the National Basketball Association was ostensibly considered. Selected and announced beside the all-time team were a most valuable player and top head coach.
James Scott Eakins is a retired American professional basketball player and two-time American Basketball Association champion.
Earl Marin Foreman was an American lawyer and sports executive.
The ABA–NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered merger talks as early as 1970, but an antitrust suit filed by the head of the NBA players union, Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n, blocked the merger until 1976.
The 1969–70 ABA season was the third season of the American Basketball Association. Prior to the start of the season, the Minnesota Pipers moved back to Pittsburgh, the Oakland Oaks moved to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Caps and the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Cougars. For the regular-season, the schedule was increased from 78 to 84 games per team. The season ended with the Indiana Pacers capturing their first ABA Championship.
The 1969–70 Washington Caps season was the first and only one for the franchise in the American Basketball Association. On August 21, 1969, the Oakland Oaks moved to Washington, D.C., due to substantial financial losses despite winning the second-ever ABA championship only weeks earlier. The franchise was purchased for $2.6 million by a group led by Earl Foreman, Thomas Shaheen and Louis Diamond.
The 1970–71 Virginia Squires season was the first season of the Virginia Squires in the American Basketball Association. After one season each in Oakland and Washington, owner Earl Foreman was convinced by the league to move his team to Virginia. Like the Carolina Cougars and The Floridians, the Squires played as a regional franchise, primarily playing games in Norfolk, Hampton and Richmond, with Salem and Roanoke having occasional games. The Squires started play on October 17, 1970, in Norfolk, winning 133–116 over the Pittsburgh Condors. They proceeded to win their next five games, while having a 30–12 first half of the season, highlighted by a seven-game winning streak. They went 25–17 in the second half, though they never lost more than two games in a row. They finished 1st in points scored at 123.3 per game, but 7th in points allowed at 119.7 per game. In the playoffs, they beat the Kentucky Colonels in six games to advance to the Division Finals, but they were beaten in six games themselves by the New York Nets.