earl foreman was an american lawyer and sports executiveforeman practiced law in the district of columbia he was the owner of the shortlived washington whips professional soccer club of the nasl and a minority owner of the baltimore bullets franchise in the national basketball association at one time he also owned an interest in the philadelphia eagles of the national football leagueon august 29 1969 foreman with thomas shaheen and louis diamond purchased the oakland oaks professional basketball team in the american basketball association the team was heavily indebted a situation that would haunt the team until its demise in 1976 just prior to the abanba merger foreman and his two coowners paid 26 million for the team and moved it to washington dc where it became the washington caps for the 19691970 aba season the caps brought on al bianchi as head coach and finished that season with a record of 4440 good for third place in the western division the caps lost in the first round of the 1970 aba playoffs to the denver rockets 4 games to 3for the 197071 season foreman moved the caps to virginia and the team became the virginia squires strapped for cash due to debts the squires traded warren armstrong to the kentucky colonels for a draft pick and cash and sold rick barry to the new york nets for 250000 the squires finished in first place in the eastern division with a 5529 record in the 1971 aba playoffs the squires defeated the new york nets 4 games to 2 in the first round but lost the eastern division finals to the kentucky colonels 4 games to 2 with the conclusion of the season on april 6 1971 the squires signed future star julius erving to a 4 year 500000 contractthe squires finished the 197172 season with a record of 4539 good for second place in the eastern division the squires defeated the floridians 4 games to 0 in the first round of the 1972 aba playoffs but then lost the full sevengame eastern division finals to the new york nets 4 games to 3 in this season johnny kerr joined the team as administrative vice presidentthe squires finished the 197273 season with a 4242 record which put them in third place in the eastern division the squires lost in the 1973 eastern division semifinals 4 games to 1 to the kentucky colonels despite ervings outstanding play at the conclusion of the season foreman added george gervin to the squires roster putting two future hall of famers on the same teamin august 1973 foreman again motivated by the squires indebtedness traded erving and willie sojourner to the new york nets for george carter the rights to kermit washington and 1 million discussing his sales and trades of the squires best players foreman said its not a pleasant thing to hear but i did what i had to do out of necessity this is not a public utility i cant ask for a fare increase when things go bad the squires signed center swen nater but then sold nater to the san antonio spurs for a draft pick and 300000 just after gervin played in the 1974 aba allstar game which the squires hosted it was announced that foreman had sold gervin to the san antonio spurs for 225000 legal action ensued and gervin ended up with the spursby this point the constant selling off of the teams stars had a major effect on the squires dwindling fan base the team finished the 197374 season with a record of 2856 which was good for fourth place in the eastern division but the squires lost in the first round of the 1973 aba playoffs to the new york nets 4 games to 1during the ensuing off season barry parkhill of the squires angry about bouncing paychecks filed suit against foreman the squires and the aba for 24000 in back pay and 360000 for anticipated breach of contract jack ankerson became the squires general manager the aba then purchased the squires franchise in its last two years the debtridden squires finished 1569 both seasons the worst records in aba history and failed to make the playoffs the team came to an end on may 11 1976 after its failure to pay a 75000 league assessment because of that the squires were not a part of the abanba merger that took place just weeks laterin 1977 through 1978 foreman was instrumental in creating the major indoor soccer league foreman was commissioner of the misl from 1978 to 1985 and again in 1989