- Oakland Oaks (ABA)
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For the professional baseball team, see Oakland Oaks (PCL). For the American Basketball League team, see Oakland Oaks (ABL).
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, the team colors were green and gold.
The Oaks were owned in part by pop singer Pat Boone. 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 1967-1968 season. He joined the Oaks in the following year, leading the franchise to its one and only ABA championship in 1968-69.
With or without Barry, the team proved to be a very poor investment for Boone and his co-owners. Despite winning the ABA championship, the Oaks were an abysmal failure at the box office, due in large part to the proximity of the NBA Warriors. The team was sold and moved to Washington, D.C. for the 1969-1970 season, where it was renamed the Washington Caps. After one season in the nation's capital, the team moved to Norfolk, Virginia for the 1970-71 season and became the Virginia Squires. The team disbanded after the 1975-76 season, keeping it out of the ABA-NBA merger which occurred just weeks later.
An earlier Oakland Oaks basketball team played in the American Basketball League in 1962.
External links
American Basketball Association teams Anaheim Amigos/Los Angeles Stars (1967–1970) · Baltimore Claws (1975) · Carolina Cougars (1969–1974) · Dallas Chaparrals/Texas Chaparrals (1967–1973) · Denver Rockets/Denver Nuggets (1967–1976) · Houston Mavericks (1967–1969) · Indiana Pacers (1967–1976) · Kentucky Colonels (1967–1976) · Memphis Pros/Memphis Tams/Memphis Sounds (1970–1975) · Miami Floridians/The Floridians (1968–1972) · Minnesota Muskies (1967–1968) · Minnesota Pipers (1968–1969) · New Jersey Americans/New York Nets (1967–1976) · New Orleans Buccaneers (1967–1970) · Oakland Oaks (1967–1969) · Pittsburgh Pipers/Pittsburgh Condors (1967–1968;1969–1972) · San Antonio Spurs (1973–1976) · San Diego Conquistadors/San Diego Sails (1972–1975) · Spirits of St. Louis (1974–1976) · Utah Stars (1970–1975) · Virginia Squires (1970–1976) · Washington Caps (1969–1970)Categories:- American Basketball Association teams
- Defunct basketball teams
- Oakland Oaks
- Sports clubs established in 1967
- Sports clubs disestablished in 1969
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