The Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association are a footnote in Bay Area sports history. But the headlines they made are the stuff of legend.
Did they steal the NBA’s top scorer and spark a bitter feud with the Warriors? Yes. Did Al Davis almost buy them? Possibly. Did a pop crooner accused of cultural appropriation own the team and inspire Will Ferrell’s basketball character in a movie? Yes.
The Oaks' attendance numbers were inflated to such a degree that they became a local punchline, and their first season was a disaster. The Oaks persevered though and won a championship the next year with a dynamic small-ball lineup; it took six more seasons for the Warriors to win their first title in the Bay Area.