Washington Caps

American Basketball Association (1969-1970)

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Background

The Washington Caps were a One-Year Wonder that played in the old American Basketball Association during the winter of 1969-70.

The Caps arrived in the nation’s capital as defending champions of the ABA in late August 1969. As the Oakland Oaks, the club dominated the 1968-69 ABA season with a 60-18 record, thanks to a talented roster that included future Hall-of-Famer Rick Barry (league-leading 34.0 ppg), All-Star small forward Doug Moe and Rookie-of-the-Year Warren Jabali. (Jabali was typically referred to in the press by his birth name of ‘Armstrong’ rather than his chosen name). The Oaks dispatched the Indiana Pacers in the ABA Championship Series in May 1969.

But poor attendance and financial problems forced the sale of the franchise just three months later. Washington D.C. attorney Earl Foreman, a former part-owner of the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets, headed up a Caps’ ownership group that paid $2.6 million for the Oaks franchise.

The team arrived in the East without Doug Moe, traded away to the Carolina Cougars, and with a disgruntled Rick Barry in tow. Upset the team’s move to the East Coast, Barry attempted to jump back to his original team, the NBA’s San Francisco Warriors, but a judge ruled that the unhappy superstar had to honor his ABA contract.

Also unhappy with the shift east was Oaks head coach Alex Hannum, who chose to stay behind in California. Former Seattle SuperSonics head man Al Bianchi replaced Hannum for the Caps.

One & Done

While still competitive, the 1969-70 Caps were a far cry from the utterly dominant Oakland Oaks squad of a year earlier. Bianchi’s club finished 44-40, good for third place in the ABA’s Western Division. Yes, Western Division – the ABA never bothered to move the Caps out of Oakland’s old spot in the league’s geographic alignment.

Barry and Jabali, the team’s top two scorers, both battled injuries. Jabali was out for 44 games while Barry missed 32. When healthy, both young players were still among the league’s best. Point guard Larry Brown, another Oaks holdover, led the ABA in assists (7.1 per game) for the third straight season and joined Barry and Jabali in the league’s 1970 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.

The Caps drew the first place Denver Rockets in the ABA’s first round of playoffs in April. Barry was finally health and averaged a monstrous 40.1 points in the seven-game series, including 52 in the decisive Game 7 in Denver. But Jabali missed the playoffs entirely and the Rockets took the series 4 games to 3.

Move & Aftermath

Three months later, in July 1970, Caps owner Earl Foreman announce the team would move to Virginia for the 1970-71 season, where the team would become the Virginia Squires.

Barry continued to voice his displeasure about the team’s wanderings. In the August 24th, 1970 issue of Sports Illustrated, which pictured Barry on the cover, the outspoken star was quoted:

“My son Scooter is supposed to go to nursery school this year. I hate to think of the complications that’ll cause in Virginia. I don’t want him to go down there to school and learn to speak with a Southern accent. He’ll come home from school saying, ‘Hi yall, Daad.’ I sure don’t want that.“²SI STAFF. “Yes, Rick, There Is A Virginia”. Sports Illustrated. August 24, 1970

Barry never played for the Squires. Foreman, strapped for cash, sold Barry’s contract to the ABA’s New York Nets for $200,000 a week later. Jabali was also dealt away that offseason, completing the thorough dismantlement of the superb 1969 Oaks title squad.

The Oaks-Caps-Squires franchise went out of business in May 1976, one month before the ABA-NBA merger.

Trivia

Although the Caps acquired a new red, white & blue logo upon their move to Washington, they continued to wear the same green & gold uniforms, similar to those sported by the Oakland Oaks from 1967 to 1969.

The Caps were the last pro sports team to make their home in the Washington Coliseum (formerly Uline Arena) which had hosted pro basketball and ice hockey since the 1940’s. The building was rendered obsolete by the opening of the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland in 1973.

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In Memoriam

Guard Mike Barrett died on August 8, 2011 at age 67.

All-Star guard Warren Jabali passed away on July 13, 2012 at age 65. Miami Herald obituary.

Head Coach Al Bianchi passed on October 28, 2019 at the age of 87. New York Times obituary.

Links

American Basketball Association Media Guides

American Basketball Association Programs

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