Oakland Oaks (ABA)
| Oakland Oaks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conference | None |
| Division | Western Division |
| Founded | 1967 |
| History |
Oakland Oaks 1967–1969 Washington Caps 1969–1970 Virginia Squires 1970–1976 |
| Arena | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena |
| Location | Oakland, California |
| Team colors | Green and Yellow |
| Head coach |
Bruce Hale (1967–1968) Alex Hannum (1968–1969) |
| Ownership |
Pat Boone S. Kenneth Davidson Dennis A. Murphy |
The Oakland Oaks were a charter member of the original American Basketball Association. Formed in February 1967 as the Oakland Americans, the team changed its name to the Oaks prior to play that fall. Playing in the ABA during the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the team colors were green and gold.
On February 2, 1967, pop singer Pat Boone, S. Kenneth Davidson and Dennis A. Murphy (who would later co-found the World Hockey Association) were awarded a team in exchange for $30,000. An earlier Oakland Oaks basketball team played in the American Basketball League in 1962, along with a baseball team that had played for nearly a half century in Oakland, with the latter and the ABA Oaks both using the oak tree and the acorn as its symbols.
The team had widely varying performances in its two years of existence. In their first season, the Oaks finished 22–56 and had the second-worst performance of any professional basketball team ever in a major league, of 1485 such team-seasons (through 2015, according to the Elo rating system); only the 1946–1947 Pittsburgh Ironmen had a worse year.
They were probably noted more for a major contract dispute with the cross-bay San Francisco Warriors of the established National Basketball Association over the rights to star player Rick Barry than for any on-court accomplishments. Barry, a former NBA Rookie of the Year who led the Warriors to the NBA finals in 1966–67, was so angered by management's failure to pay him certain incentive awards he felt he was due that he sat out the 1967–68 season. He joined the Oaks in the following year, leading the franchise to the ABA championship in 1968–69.
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