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 ; 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.
The first and last great year
The road to the championship was led by pioneering owner, S. Kenneth Davidson, who aggressively pursued top NBA talent Rick Barry and head coachAlex Hannum, signing them for an unprecedented $85,000 per year. His efforts drove a historic turnaround, from last place to first in one year. Unfortunately for Barry, he tore ligaments in his knee after colliding with Kenny Wilburn late in a game versus the New York Nets on December 27, 1968. He tried to return in January, but he only aggravated the injury and he subsequently sat out the rest of the season, only appearing in 35 games as a result. Regardless, the Oaks won 60 games on the season. In the playoffs, they narrowly escaped the Denver Rockets in the Semifinals, but swept the New Orleans Buccaneers in the Division Finals to advance to the ABA Finals versus the Indiana Pacers. After splitting the first two games, the Oaks won an overtime thriller 134–126 to take a 2–1 lead in the series. They then won the fourth game to set up a clinching opportunity in Oakland. In Game 5, the Oaks won 135–131 in overtime to clinch the series and win the ABA title Warren Jabali was named Playoffs MVP, scoring 21.5 points per game with 9.7 rebounds per game during the playoffs. In the nine playoff games in Oakland, the Oaks averaged just 3,401 attendance a game, with 30,615 total attendance, with the highest being Game 5 of the Finals that had 6,340 attending.
Demise
With or without Barry, the team proved to be a poor investment for Boone and his co-owners. Despite winning the ABA championship, the Oaks were a 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 1969–70 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. After one year without a permanent basketball tenant, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum hosted the newly christened Golden State Warriors for the 1970-71 NBA season. It would remain their home arena for 49 seasons until their move back to San Francisco at the new Chase Center for the 2019–20 season.
