On February 2, 1967, longtime entertainer and business entrepreneur 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.

Initially, Boone received a 10 percent share of the franchise to serve as president, but he had limited involvement in team operations and rarely attended home games because of his outside interests.

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.

[1] 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 superstar player Rick Barry than for any on-court accomplishments.

The road to the championship was led by pioneering owner, S. Kenneth Davidson, who aggressively pursued Barry and one-time Warriors head coach Alex Hannum, signing them for an unprecedented $85,000 per year.