I was an ABA fan growing up, but it wasn't easy. You'd get the all-star game and maybe one or two other games on tv all season. So, I had to keep up with the ABA through magazines, and what little the newspaper printed. And as kids, when playing basketball out in the driveway, we ALL wanted to be "Dr. J.".
I grew up in Norfolk but never attended the Squires games. When I joined the Air Force in 1980, I went to two Spurs games with George Gervin playing. The games were exciting and it was a great diversion from basic training.
Very cool, thanks for the well researched video! My family lived on the same cul-de-sac as Jim Eakins and his family in Kempsville. I remember getting the courage up when I was five, to knock on his door to get his autograph. He was very pleasant and VERY tall. I think he got a kick out of it. I still have the autographed card to this day!
Thank you for the video. I'm definitely up for more ABA content! I grew up watching the Colonels, and was lucky enough to see their only championship against the Pacers at Freedom Hall. Subscribing! Cheers.
@jazzpunk ABA games were part of my early teen years. I remember watching the Squires often, even with the young Julius Erving. I remember watching that ball spinning in flight. Sigh. Cheers!
I attended a handful of Squires games at the Norfolk Scope. Also did the early intrasquad game at the Hampton Colosseum. IIRC, they also played a game or two in NOVA (Fairfax?) & even the Old Dominion Fieldhouse (1970-71)...LOL. Scott, Dr. J, Gervin...great. Another fan favourite was Mike "Birdman" Barrett...crazy dunks when they were more of an oddity vs. today's game.
Just came across my feed. Great video. Not enough content like this on the ABA out there, so getting to learn about the franchises is great. Instantly subbed. Looking forward to more.
Keep those documentaries on the ABA coming. So much talent in that league which was ahead of its time. Too bad they didnt have a national tv contract like the NBA did. It makes you wonder if the NBA didnt have something to do with that.
The ABA was around for 9yrs, not 7. Great video though. Was too young to remember the ABA but I love the colorful, weird, and crazy history behind it. There were a ton of what ifs in this league but ultimately, lack of funds and no national TV contract doomed them.
@@JosePerez-vz1qq Yep the George Mikan Lakers would hold the ball so long final scores would be in the 50's. Ironically, in the 1st 8 ABA seasons, there was a 30 sec shot clock until their final season, when they went to 24.
@@elwin38 actually, it was the opposite. Teams could not keep Mikan from dominating them so as soon as they got a lead they froze the game. They held the ball and did not shoot to keep the ball out of Mikan's hands. The game most emblematic of the problem was between Mikan's Minneapolis Lakere and the Fort Wayne Pistons 22 November 1950. Final score was 19-18, Pistons. Q1 - FtWa 8, Mpls 7 Halftime - Mpls 13, FtWa 11 Q3 - Mpls 17, FtWa 16 Fewest attempted field goals, both teams. Fewest points scored in a quarter. Fewest points scored in a half. Fewest points scored in a game. Mikan was the only Laker who scored a field goal with four. The rest of his team high 15 points came on free throws. Larry Foust scored the game winning FG for the Pistons.
Yo Peezy! Thanks for the History lesson, dawg! I was a 10 year old back then and I NEVER knew Barry played in the ABA --- and dang sure didn't know he said something stupid like that --- WOW! But hey, that was Rick! Didn't know the history of the Squirers, none of that! Keep up the good work! And I'll check out more of your creations! Thanks again, dawg! #✌🏽
Peezy you should do a video on the ABL, which was a league that existed for one and a half years between 1961 and 63 and initiated some of the rule changes that you saw on the ABA such as the three-point shot and had lots of famous NBA players, including Connie, Hawkins and Wolff Bellamy as well as Dick Barnett
I heard that if the ABA had patented The red white and blue basketball and sold it everywhere, the League might have survived, because red white and blue basketballs were everywhere in the '70s I remember seeing them all over the place as a kid! But they were made by every basketball company, The ABA made not a dime ,but It was their idea!!!!
Great video. You could do a whole future video on Marvin "Bad News" Barnes. One of the great ABA ( and later NBA )talents but also a major head case. He out dueled Julius Erving in a 1975 ABA Playoff series. His is also known for one of the classic statements of all time. He refused to board a plane for a St Louis Spirits team flight from Louisville to St. Louis. Because the flight was scheduled to arrive (Central Time) before its departure time (Eastern Time), Barnes said, "I ain't getting in no damn time machine." He rented a car instead.
One of the best players and definitely one of the TOP 5 REBOUNDERS IN ABA HISTORY IS GERALD GOVAN. GERALD is one of only 6 players to play all 9 seasons in ABA HISTORY. Please do a documentary about the GREAT GERALD GOVAN!
...and - Gas Stations used to give away the RW&B balls with a fill-up. Terrible basketballs, especially during cold winter daze. 😊 BTW, the seats in the Norfolk Scope were Blue, the curtains Red & White. Fast forward to the '90s ECHL hockey daze, the curtains were Burgandy & Brown. I recall sitting up high at a Squires game & looking thru a cloud of cigarette smoke.
What gets completely lost in all the George Gervin-Virginia Squires story was that it was a longtime Squires guard, (Roland) Fatty Taylor (number 14 in the formal team photo), a Washington, D.C. native from (Philadelphia) LaSalle University who was taken in the draft by the nearby Philadelphia 76ers but failed to stay on for the opening night roster in 1969, then claimed by the A.B.A. champions team just arrived from the west coast (named the Oakland Oaks) and renamed the Washington Caps, it was Taylor who saw while Gervin was in the workout practices that he never seemed to ever break any sweat at all and called out to everybody at the team practice that Gervin was "like ice" or something similar to that and the name stuck to Gervin for good from that point and on!
The NBA had the shot clock long before the ABA was started. It was (and remains) a 24-second clock, unaffected by the 30-second clock in the ABA. Coach Hale was also Barry's father-in-law. Barry had to sit out. First, he'd signed an ABA contract. Second, the reserve clause was, at that time, considered renwable by ownership. Had he played for the Warriors, he would have been held to that team despite his contract with the Oaks. Barry was a jerk. He objected to Virginia? He played college ball in MIAMI!
The ABA was in existence for nine years comes to mind. You also should have mentioned the Baltimore Claws when detailing the teams who folded in their last season as it personifies how badly the league was ran. There's no reason for me to play the video with the idea of looking for errors. Just be mindful that there's still people alive who were fans of the ABA. Best of luck in your future videos as I've subscribed to your channel.
Very good video with two exceptions: Teh ABA lasted nine seasons (not seven) and I'm surprised you didn't mention that the NY Nets that eliminated the Squires in a tight seven game series were led by none other than Rick Barry, the reluctant Virginian.
I remember the Squires while growing up an ABA fan in Southern Indiana across from Louisville. I had hoped to see the ABA make it, but without a network TV contract, it just couldn’t. I recall the Squires mostly as the hapless team with the terrible records. Rick Barry was an a-hole who thought pro basketball revolved around him.
@@bak-mariterry9143 During 1973-76 they had the abysmal records. That's the years I was aware of them. Not saying they were always hapless; just those years.
When Oakland Oaks moved to DC, they played very old Uline arena on 3rd Street NE. But they played well as Washington & later down in mostly Newport News, VA amazing to think Dr. J, George Gervin, and Rick Barry (in Washington) started there. Barry hated Virginia and DC.
Larry Brown and Doug Moore on the same basketball team. Two of the better coaches of my younger days. You listed a bunch of stars that played for that team but I don't think there was any point where all of them were together. Still they always had a couple future superstars of the NBA playing at the same time for them.
I feel if the merge had happened just one year earlier the Squires would have made it to the NBA and gotten the support it needed. Both Richmond or Norfolk could have supported the team and the franchise if given the opportunity
Oh, yeah. Rick Barry. Great player, superb at underhand free throws...I had that issue of Sports Illustrated...people around here did not like his crack about "y'all". Years later, his son (Jon) attended Ga Tech?!?! Y'all, indeed.
A couple of the owners negotiated a, I believe, 1% tv revenue clause with the NBA inpertetuity in due of a one-time buy-out option. The NBA agreed as tv rights money was mostly regional, and national rights were virtually non-existent. They and their family have made a little money since then
There was opposition to the deal by the NBA owners because some of the owners wanted the chance to get some of Colonel's stars in a disbursement draft instead. For instance, the Chicago Bulls wanted star center Artis Gilmore and eventually got him in the draft. The Colonel's owner John Y Brown also not totally dedicated to merging the team. He had bigger dreams. He used the money he got from the NBA "to go away" to buy into a share of the Buffalo Braves whose owner was hated by fans and was financially drowning. Brown eventually became majority owner. He then struck gold. He traded his ownership of the Braves for the ownership of the BOSTON CELTICS with the owner of Celtics, a California resident, who then moved the Braves to his home state of California, becoming the San Diego Clippers who survive today as the Los Angeles Clippers.
Your opening comment about the ABA being exciting television is misleading...the ABA struggled to get ANY of their regular season games televised . That is why there is hardly any footage of any of them. The only nationally televised games were the All Star game and the finals (and not every game of the finals, it was a very weird and awful TV contract).
Went to quite a few Anaheim Amigos games (for free as they practiced and sometimes played games at CS Fullerton where I played). Except for a few superstars like Dr J. the Hawk. the league was populated with wanna be , has been and never will be guys. Usually there was a good fight every game.
Do a series on the woman's professional basketball league whose players included Kaye cowher ann Meyers nancy lieberman anita Ortega(the Puerto Rican dr. J)
"Most entertaining things to watch on TV?" The ABA had no national TV contract. Some TV locally around smaller ABA cites. But the ABA was rarely seen, even during their championship playoffs. This was the league's fatal flaw, and it led to their demise. A bright guy should have gotten Dr. J to New York earlier, and then have a national network show nothing but Nets games. That may have worked. The ABA was one of those half-baked ideas from the 60s. It was exciting, innovative, but they also had many players with antisocial behavior like Warren Jabali and John Brisker. Not ready for prime time, for sure.
@@gregsells8549 I believe those were only playoff games, and featured non-entities like Craig Raymond of the Floridians. Utah was better, with a nicer building and a Mormon Ward Ball following. The ABA should have financially supported that, along with Denver and Oklahoma City, where basketball had an AAU industrial league history. It was almost as if the owners invested in cities at random. Those were different times.
Gee, PorchPeezy, please SLOOOOOOOW DOWWWWN your narration! What's your hurry, anyway? Your channel NEEDS "minutes watched" for success on UA-cam! Got it?
They also had Charlie Scott. Woefully underrated and forgotten.
I was an ABA fan growing up, but it wasn't easy. You'd get the all-star game and maybe one or two other games on tv all season. So, I had to keep up with the ABA through magazines, and what little the newspaper printed. And as kids, when playing basketball out in the driveway, we ALL wanted to be "Dr. J.".
Saw the Squires play in Roanoke, VA led by Charlie Scott but there was a young guy on the team that really stood out named Julius Erving.
Squires my hometown team!
I grew up in Norfolk but never attended the Squires games. When I joined the Air Force in 1980, I went to two Spurs games with George Gervin playing. The games were exciting and it was a great diversion from basic training.
Very cool, thanks for the well researched video! My family lived on the same cul-de-sac as Jim Eakins and his family in Kempsville. I remember getting the courage up when I was five, to knock on his door to get his autograph. He was very pleasant and VERY tall. I think he got a kick out of it. I still have the autographed card to this day!
Back then Dr.J WAS basketball. Everyone wanted to play like him. Period.
Thank you for the video. I'm definitely up for more ABA content! I grew up watching the Colonels, and was lucky enough to see their only championship against the Pacers at Freedom Hall. Subscribing! Cheers.
The Colonels were tough...2 good shooting guards, Issel, & then Artis Gilmore. IIRC, they owned my Squires.
@jazzpunk ABA games were part of my early teen years. I remember watching the Squires often, even with the young Julius Erving. I remember watching that ball spinning in flight. Sigh. Cheers!
I attended a handful of Squires games at the Norfolk Scope. Also did the early intrasquad game at the Hampton Colosseum. IIRC, they also played a game or two in NOVA (Fairfax?) & even the Old Dominion Fieldhouse (1970-71)...LOL.
Scott, Dr. J, Gervin...great. Another fan favourite was Mike "Birdman" Barrett...crazy dunks when they were more of an oddity vs. today's game.
New fan of your page love these profiles with the ABA players and teams
Just came across my feed. Great video. Not enough content like this on the ABA out there, so getting to learn about the franchises is great. Instantly subbed. Looking forward to more.
Hope we get one about the San Diego Conquistadors/Sails
Keep those documentaries on the ABA coming. So much talent in that league which was ahead of its time. Too bad they didnt have a national tv contract like the NBA did. It makes you wonder if the NBA didnt have something to do with that.
The ABA was around for 9yrs, not 7. Great video though. Was too young to remember the ABA but I love the colorful, weird, and crazy history behind it. There were a ton of what ifs in this league but ultimately, lack of funds and no national TV contract doomed them.
The 24 second shot clock in the NBA dates back to George Mikan.
@@JosePerez-vz1qq Yep the George Mikan Lakers would hold the ball so long final scores would be in the 50's. Ironically, in the 1st 8 ABA seasons, there was a 30 sec shot clock until their final season, when they went to 24.
@@elwin38 actually, it was the opposite. Teams could not keep Mikan from dominating them so as soon as they got a lead they froze the game. They held the ball and did not shoot to keep the ball out of Mikan's hands.
The game most emblematic of the problem was between Mikan's Minneapolis Lakere and the Fort Wayne Pistons 22 November 1950.
Final score was 19-18, Pistons.
Q1 - FtWa 8, Mpls 7
Halftime - Mpls 13, FtWa 11
Q3 - Mpls 17, FtWa 16
Fewest attempted field goals, both teams.
Fewest points scored in a quarter.
Fewest points scored in a half.
Fewest points scored in a game.
Mikan was the only Laker who scored a field goal with four. The rest of his team high 15 points came on free throws.
Larry Foust scored the game winning FG for the Pistons.
@@JosePerez-vz1qq That's right, it was the other way, teams held the ball to KEEP MIKAN FROM GETTING THE BALL! 😉😄
Fantastic video bro
Please do more 😊
Yo Peezy!
Thanks for the History lesson, dawg!
I was a 10 year old back then and I NEVER knew Barry played in the ABA --- and dang sure didn't know he said something stupid like that --- WOW!
But hey, that was Rick! Didn't know the history of the Squirers, none of that!
Keep up the good work!
And I'll check out more of your creations!
Thanks again, dawg!
#✌🏽
Peezy you should do a video on the ABL, which was a league that existed for one and a half years between 1961 and 63 and initiated some of the rule changes that you saw on the ABA such as the three-point shot and had lots of famous NBA players, including Connie, Hawkins and Wolff Bellamy as well as Dick Barnett
@@docnoc66 I’ll add that to the list
@@PeezyHoopsYT If you need any photos of programs and tickets from that league - I can share the images with you
Also Lou Hudson?
I heard that if the ABA had patented The red white and blue basketball and sold it everywhere, the League might have survived, because red white and blue basketballs were everywhere in the '70s I remember seeing them all over the place as a kid! But they were made by every basketball company, The ABA made not a dime ,but It was their idea!!!!
Local Filling Stations 😊 gave the balls away with a fill up. Terrible balls...would not bounce in cold weather. 😁
Great- informative and entertaining video. Thank you
As a fan of the Hartford Whalers (NHL), I feel the pain of Squires fans.
Great video. You could do a whole future video on Marvin "Bad News" Barnes. One of the great ABA ( and later NBA )talents but also a major head case. He out dueled Julius Erving in a 1975 ABA Playoff series. His is also known for one of the classic statements of all time. He refused to board a plane for a St Louis Spirits team flight from Louisville to St. Louis. Because the flight was scheduled to arrive (Central Time) before its departure time (Eastern Time), Barnes said, "I ain't getting in no damn time machine." He rented a car instead.
One of the best players and definitely one of the TOP 5 REBOUNDERS IN ABA HISTORY IS GERALD GOVAN. GERALD is one of only 6 players to play all 9 seasons in ABA HISTORY. Please do a documentary about the GREAT GERALD GOVAN!
...and - Gas Stations used to give away the RW&B balls with a fill-up. Terrible basketballs, especially during cold winter daze. 😊
BTW, the seats in the Norfolk Scope were Blue, the curtains Red & White.
Fast forward to the '90s ECHL hockey daze, the curtains were Burgandy & Brown.
I recall sitting up high at a Squires game & looking thru a cloud of cigarette smoke.
I really enjoyed this video, because I am 53 years old & all that I remember is the NBA, but it is great to know your Sports history ✌🏾
Thanks for story/video. 👍🏽
At one point they had Julius Erving, George Gervin and George Irvine (whose name is pronounced as if the trailing i isn't there, rhymes with Gervin).
What gets completely lost in all the George Gervin-Virginia Squires story was that it was a longtime Squires guard, (Roland) Fatty Taylor (number 14 in the formal team photo), a Washington, D.C. native from (Philadelphia) LaSalle University who was taken in the draft by the nearby Philadelphia 76ers but failed to stay on for the opening night roster in 1969, then claimed by the A.B.A. champions team just arrived from the west coast (named the Oakland Oaks) and renamed the Washington Caps, it was Taylor who saw while Gervin was in the workout practices that he never seemed to ever break any sweat at all and called out to everybody at the team practice that Gervin was "like ice" or something similar to that and the name stuck to Gervin for good from that point and on!
I had always wondered where he got the nickname. Thanks.
The Nuggets had Larry Brown and Doug Moe. Two-thirds of the Stooges.
Don't forget Charlie Scott.
It’s wild how many actually facts there are in Semi-Pro
Great history, thanks for your effort. I had read Dr. J's autobiography so I knew about the Squires but not where they had come from.
The NBA had the shot clock long before the ABA was started. It was (and remains) a 24-second clock, unaffected by the 30-second clock in the ABA.
Coach Hale was also Barry's father-in-law.
Barry had to sit out. First, he'd signed an ABA contract. Second, the reserve clause was, at that time, considered renwable by ownership. Had he played for the Warriors, he would have been held to that team despite his contract with the Oaks.
Barry was a jerk. He objected to Virginia? He played college ball in MIAMI!
You did a good job on the research. There were some errors but overall I am awaiting your next video.
@@kylenickelberry1602 what did i get wrong?
The ABA was in existence for nine years comes to mind. You also should have mentioned the Baltimore Claws when detailing the teams who folded in their last season as it personifies how badly the league was ran.
There's no reason for me to play the video with the idea of looking for errors. Just be mindful that there's still people alive who were fans of the ABA.
Best of luck in your future videos as I've subscribed to your channel.
@ thank you
This is awesome
Excellent Job. Thanks.
Very good video with two exceptions: Teh ABA lasted nine seasons (not seven) and I'm surprised you didn't mention that the NY Nets that eliminated the Squires in a tight seven game series were led by none other than Rick Barry, the reluctant Virginian.
The Virginia Squires were the best ABA team. They played in Richmond Coleseum 12,000 seat arena with 2 000 people.
great bit of history in virginia for Dr J fans here in VA
I knew this story from Terry Pluto's book "Loose Balls".
I remember the Squires while growing up an ABA fan in Southern Indiana across from Louisville. I had hoped to see the ABA make it, but without a network TV contract, it just couldn’t.
I recall the Squires mostly as the hapless team with the terrible records.
Rick Barry was an a-hole who thought pro basketball revolved around him.
I'll agree about Rick Berry.
The Squires happless ?
Don't think so.
@@bak-mariterry9143 During 1973-76 they had the abysmal records. That's the years I was aware of them. Not saying they were always hapless; just those years.
2:04 i don't want my daughter to come home from school and say "y'all"
These days, be glad if your daughter makes it home from school!
When Oakland Oaks moved to DC, they played very old Uline arena on 3rd Street NE. But they played well as Washington & later down in mostly Newport News, VA amazing to think Dr. J, George Gervin, and Rick Barry (in Washington) started there. Barry hated Virginia and DC.
I hope kenlucky gets an NBA team one day soon
I had hoped the Colonels would survive to a merger with the NBA, for that matter that the whole ABA would merge.
@@brianarbenz1329Kentucky got screwed the worst. They had been one of the better NBA teams for years.
Larry Brown and Doug Moore on the same basketball team. Two of the better coaches of my younger days. You listed a bunch of stars that played for that team but I don't think there was any point where all of them were together. Still they always had a couple future superstars of the NBA playing at the same time for them.
That should say Doug Moe. I hate using Google''s speech to text but I'm forced to because of my present physical condition.
I feel if the merge had happened just one year earlier the Squires would have made it to the NBA and gotten the support it needed. Both Richmond or Norfolk could have supported the team and the franchise if given the opportunity
Oh, yeah. Rick Barry. Great player, superb at underhand free throws...I had that issue of Sports Illustrated...people around here did not like his crack about "y'all".
Years later, his son (Jon) attended Ga Tech?!?! Y'all, indeed.
You did a greater job.
This was the first time I heard of the Virginia Square of the aba
A couple of the owners negotiated a, I believe, 1% tv revenue clause with the NBA inpertetuity in due of a one-time buy-out option. The NBA agreed as tv rights money was mostly regional, and national rights were virtually non-existent. They and their family have made a little money since then
Dr.J was rookie of the year NOT artist Gilmore. And that's a fact! Period.
What kind of sneakers is Doc wearing? LOL
LaVern Tart - from Bradley University.
I saw him play a lot in the Eastern League
The Kentucky Colonels were one of the best teams
in the ABA. I wonder why they were not part of the merger?
There was opposition to the deal by the NBA owners because some of the owners wanted the chance to get some of Colonel's stars in a disbursement draft instead. For instance, the Chicago Bulls wanted star center Artis Gilmore and eventually got him in the draft.
The Colonel's owner John Y Brown also not totally dedicated to merging the team. He had bigger dreams. He used the money he got from the NBA "to go away" to buy into a share of the Buffalo Braves whose owner was hated by fans and was financially drowning. Brown eventually became majority owner. He then struck gold. He traded his ownership of the Braves for the ownership of the BOSTON CELTICS with the owner of Celtics, a California resident, who then moved the Braves to his home state of California, becoming the San Diego Clippers who survive today as the Los Angeles Clippers.
Your opening comment about the ABA being exciting television is misleading...the ABA struggled to get ANY of their regular season games televised . That is why there is hardly any footage of any of them. The only nationally televised games were the All Star game and the finals (and not every game of the finals, it was a very weird and awful TV contract).
I thought da aba was around nine years from 1967-1976?
Yeah that was an error on my part
The Kentucky Colonels should have been merged with the NBA as well. They had a great team!
Went to quite a few Anaheim Amigos games (for free as they practiced and sometimes played games at CS Fullerton where I played). Except for a few superstars like Dr J. the Hawk. the league was populated with wanna be , has been and never will be guys. Usually there was a good fight every game.
Do a series on the woman's professional basketball league whose players included Kaye cowher ann Meyers nancy lieberman anita Ortega(the Puerto Rican dr. J)
Nancy's nickname was Lady Magic. Well deserved.
That was regional franchise without dr j gervin team go down ,, beatiful logo and nickname ,,maybe need back Norfolk squiers in nba new team
WAS A BIG FAN OF ABA BACK IN THE DAY, VIRGINIA SQUIRES, HAD RICK BARRY, CHARLIE SCOTT, JULIUS ERVING, AND GEORGE GERVIN, LET SOME NBA JODI TOP THAT
And the rights to Bob McAdoo
"Most entertaining things to watch on TV?" The ABA had no national TV contract. Some TV locally around smaller ABA cites. But the ABA was rarely seen, even during their championship playoffs. This was the league's fatal flaw, and it led to their demise. A bright guy should have gotten Dr. J to New York earlier, and then have a national network show nothing but Nets games. That may have worked. The ABA was one of those half-baked ideas from the 60s. It was exciting, innovative, but they also had many players with antisocial behavior like Warren Jabali and John Brisker. Not ready for prime time, for sure.
I recall seeing some ABA games on CBS about 1972, then CBS got the NBA.
@@gregsells8549 I believe those were only playoff games, and featured non-entities like Craig Raymond of the Floridians. Utah was better, with a nicer building and a Mormon Ward Ball following. The ABA should have financially supported that, along with Denver and Oklahoma City, where basketball had an AAU industrial league history. It was almost as if the owners invested in cities at random. Those were different times.
Tropics
The pacers weren't!
Cause the whole team is sporting white bell bottoms 😂😂🕺🏾
The ABA was a train wreck from day one.
Don't just read off the stars. Yawn.
Lemme know what i should improve on
Gee, PorchPeezy, please SLOOOOOOOW DOWWWWN your narration! What's your hurry, anyway? Your channel NEEDS "minutes watched" for success on UA-cam! Got it?
Noted
interesting Video Good information