PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WTKR) — The red, white, and blue ball commonly paired with the American Basketball Association hasn't been tossed around in Hampton Roads since the mid 1970s.
Yet it feels like just yesterday for former Virginia Squire players.
On Friday night, those memories flooded back as the former ABA team held a reunion at the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth.
"When you look back and see where what you got into and you look at all the players involved," said former Squire point guard Charlie Scott, "it is a great satisfaction to say 'Hey, I was a part of starting this.'"
Former players back in Hampton Roads included Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members in Scott, "Dr. J" Julius Erving and George "The Iceman" Gervin.
"It's special to be back here where my pro career began," said Gervin, who went on to become a nine-time NBA All Star and a four-time league scoring champion. "It's hard for me to not be humble being back here because this is where it began for me."
The Squires first moved to the Commonwealth in 1970 playing in multiple cities across Virginia. Along with Norfolk, the team called Hampton, Richmond and Roanoke home throughout its history.
Coming through the 757 brought on some fun atmospheres for those players.
"We were getting five, six thousand people at that time that the Scope and we'd entertain them and they kept coming," Gervin said. "It was a product on the floor that they really enjoyed coming to see. It was really special."
The level of players that graced the floor with the Squires still staggering to those they shared the floor with.
"You had two guys that were generational talents in George Gervin Dr. J," said former Old Dominion star and NBA champion Dave Twardzik, who played for the Squires from 1972-1976. "Charlie Scott is a Hall of Famer. There was real talent on this team."
"All those guys won championships on other teams in the NBA," Scott said. "It shows the talent level that the Virginia Squires had."
A sold out crowd at the Renaissance Hotel soaking in all of the memories and nostalgia of the last professional basketball team to play in Hampton Roads.
Seeing that level of fandom gives those players confidence that if the sport were to ever return, it would thrive again.
"We had support way back then and it's has only gotten greater and bigger now," Gervin said. "You've got a naval base, that's a clientele. You got colleges and you got water, everybody likes the water."
"I really think a franchise would be great in this area."
