50 Fun Facts About 2010s NBA

Which forward announced his move to the Miami Heat live on the 2010 ESPN special The Decision?

LeBron James revealed his choice from a Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. The broadcast raised $2.5 million for the charity.

Which guard was voted the NBA's first unanimous MVP in 2016, after his team won a record 73 games?

Stephen Curry made 402 three-pointers that season, breaking a record that was already his own. No MVP before him had taken every first-place vote.

Which Lakers guard scored 60 points against the Utah Jazz in 2016, in the final game of his career?

Kobe Bryant took a career-high 50 shots that night and outscored the Jazz by himself in the fourth quarter. He spent all 20 of his seasons with the Lakers.

Which undrafted Harvard graduate led the New York Knicks on a seven-game winning streak in February 2012?

Jeremy Lin had been waived by two teams in 2011 and was sleeping on his brother's couch. The craze that followed was dubbed Linsanity.

Which team became the first to overturn a 3–1 deficit in the NBA Finals, winning its first title in 2016?

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the last three games against a 73-win opponent and ended their home town's 52-year wait for a major sports title.

Which Lakers forward legally changed his name to Metta World Peace before the 2011–12 NBA season?

Ron Artest took his new first name from a Buddhist word for loving-kindness. In 2020 he changed his name again, to Metta Sandiford-Artest.

Which Clippers rookie won the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest by leaping over the hood of a car?

Blake Griffin cleared a Kia sedan and took 68% of the fan vote. The car was later auctioned to benefit Stand Up to Cancer.

Which Hall of Famer became the NBA's first former player turned majority owner, buying the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010?

Michael Jordan had held a minority stake since 2006, and the team took back the Hornets name under him. He sold his majority share in 2023.

Which Miami Heat sharpshooter hit a corner three-pointer to force overtime in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals?

Ray Allen stepped back behind the line in the right corner and tied the game with 5.2 seconds left. Miami won in overtime, then took the title in Game 7.

Which guard averaged a triple-double across the 2016–17 season, the first player to do so since Oscar Robertson?

Russell Westbrook finished with 42 triple-doubles, breaking Robertson's single-season record of 41, and was voted MVP.

Which Dallas Mavericks forward was named Finals MVP in 2011 after beating the Miami Heat for his only championship?

Dirk Nowitzki, the first European to win the league MVP award, went on to play 21 seasons for the same franchise, something no other NBA player has done.

Which forward announced in The Players' Tribune in July 2016 that he was leaving for the Golden State Warriors?

Kevin Durant won the championship and the Finals MVP award in each of his first two seasons after the move.

Which forward was named Finals MVP with two different franchises during the 2010s, in 2014 and 2019?

Kawhi Leonard, nicknamed the Klaw for his exceptionally large hands, won the second award in his only season with his new team.

Which point guard became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011, at the age of 22?

Derrick Rose took the record from Wes Unseld, who was 23 when he won in 1969. A year later he tore a knee ligament in the first game of the playoffs.

Which team won its first NBA championship in 2019, beating an injury-hit Golden State in six games?

The Toronto Raptors became the first team based outside the United States to win the title. Their opponents lost two All-Stars to serious leg injuries during the series.

Which guard's three-pointer broke an 89–89 tie in the final minute of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals?

Kyrie Irving made the shot with 53 seconds left for a 92–89 lead. Five years earlier he had been the first overall pick of the NBA draft.

Which team drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo with the 15th pick in 2013 and saw him named MVP in 2019?

The Milwaukee Bucks watched him grow into the Greek Freak, a two-time MVP who led them to the 2021 title, their first in 50 years.

Which coach won his eleventh and final NBA championship with the Lakers in 2010 before retiring a year later?

Phil Jackson had broken his tie with Red Auerbach for the most titles by a head coach a year earlier, in 2009.

Which San Antonio Spurs forward retired in 2016 after winning five titles in 19 seasons with one team?

Tim Duncan, nicknamed the Big Fundamental for his simple but effective style, was also league MVP twice and Finals MVP three times.

Which former Microsoft chief executive bought the Los Angeles Clippers for about $2 billion in 2014?

Steve Ballmer made the winning bid weeks after the league banned owner Donald Sterling for life over recorded racist remarks.

Which reigning Sixth Man of the Year was traded to the Houston Rockets days before the 2012–13 season began?

James Harden had failed to agree a contract extension with his old team. He finished the 2010s as the NBA's leading scorer of the decade.

Which Miami Heat guard, the 2006 Finals MVP, was joined by two All-Star free agents in the summer of 2010?

Dwyane Wade, nicknamed Flash, reached four straight Finals with the pair and won titles in 2012 and 2013.

Which guard scored an NBA-record 37 points in a single quarter against the Sacramento Kings in January 2015?

Klay Thompson made all 13 of his shots in that third quarter, including nine three-pointers, itself a record for one quarter.

Which forward, nicknamed the Brow, went first in the 2012 NBA draft after one college season?

Anthony Davis was picked for the Olympic team that same summer and won a gold medal in London before he had played a single NBA game.

Which Portland Trail Blazers guard eliminated Houston from the 2014 playoffs with a three-pointer as time expired?

Damian Lillard's shot gave Portland its first playoff series win since 2000. Five years later he ended another series at the buzzer, from 37 feet.

Which New Orleans point guard's 2011 trade to the Lakers was blocked by commissioner David Stern?

Chris Paul's team was owned by the league itself at the time. He joined the Clippers instead, where a run of alley-oop dunks earned the nickname Lob City.

Which Golden State forward was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals with his team leading 3–1?

Draymond Green had picked up his fourth flagrant foul point of the playoffs in Game 4. No player had been suspended from a Finals game for ten years.

Which Golden State forward was named 2015 Finals MVP after starting the series on the bench?

Andre Iguodala had not started a single game in the regular season, a first for a Finals MVP.

Which team's record of 72 wins in a season did the Golden State Warriors beat by one in 2015–16?

The Chicago Bulls set the mark in 1995–96 with Steve Kerr on the roster, and he was head coach of the team that broke it 20 years later.

Which team reached the 2012 NBA Finals with three future league MVPs on its roster, then traded one away?

The Oklahoma City Thunder won the first game at home, then lost the next four to Miami. All three future MVPs were 23 or younger at the time.

Which longtime deputy succeeded David Stern as NBA commissioner in February 2014, after Stern's 30 years in charge?

Adam Silver had been deputy commissioner for eight years. Three months into the job he banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league for life.

On which holiday did the lockout-delayed 2011–12 NBA regular season finally begin, with five games?

Christmas Day brought five games instead of the planned three, and the lockout cut every team's schedule from 82 games to 66.

Which center nicknamed Superman won his third straight Defensive Player of the Year award in 2011, an NBA first?

Dwight Howard had dunked in a cape at the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest. In 2012, after eight seasons with Orlando, he was traded to the Lakers.

Which Minnesota Timberwolves forward recorded the NBA's first 30-point, 30-rebound game in 28 years in November 2010?

Kevin Love had 31 points and 31 rebounds against the Knicks, the first such game since Moses Malone in 1982. Minnesota traded him four years later.

Which team's long rebuild under general manager Sam Hinkie, launched in 2013, became known as The Process?

The Philadelphia 76ers got the label from guard Tony Wroten, and Hinkie resigned in 2016 with a 7,000-word letter.

Which NBA coach rested four top players for a televised 2012 game in Miami, earning his team a $250,000 fine?

Gregg Popovich kept the four Spurs away from Miami without giving the league proper notice, and commissioner David Stern called it a disservice to fans.

Which former WNBA guard became the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history with the Spurs in 2014?

Becky Hammon coached the Spurs to the Las Vegas Summer League title a year later, as the first woman to be head coach of an NBA summer team.

Which Phoenix Suns guard scored 70 points in a March 2017 game, becoming the youngest player to top 60?

Devin Booker was 20 and only the sixth player in NBA history to score 70 in a game. The Suns record he broke had been set on the same date in 1990.

Which Miami Heat coach, who started with the team as its video coordinator, won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013?

Erik Spoelstra joined the Heat in 1995 with no promise of a job beyond that summer. He was the first Asian American head coach to win a title in the four major leagues.

Which center became the first openly gay athlete to play in the NBA when he joined the Nets in 2014?

Jason Collins had come out a year earlier in a Sports Illustrated cover story, which drew a record 3.7 million visitors to the magazine's website that day.

Which future MVP's selection with the 41st pick of the 2014 NBA draft was announced during a Taco Bell commercial?

Nikola Jokić went to the Denver Nuggets, his name shown only on a ticker under the advert. He became the lowest-drafted player ever to be named MVP.

Which guard, the final pick of the 2011 NBA draft, finished third in league scoring in the 2016–17 season?

Isaiah Thomas averaged 28.9 points a game that season. He was named after Pistons star Isiah Thomas because of a bet made by his Lakers-fan father.

Which Portland Trail Blazers guard, a three-time All-Star, retired in 2011 because of a degenerative knee condition?

Brandon Roy had been Rookie of the Year in 2007. He tried a comeback with Minnesota in 2012 but managed only five games.

Which guard was the NBA's 2017 Rookie of the Year despite being drafted only 36th, in the second round?

Malcolm Brogdon was the first second-round pick to win the award since 1965, and a unanimous choice for the All-Rookie First Team.

Which city would have gained the Sacramento Kings in 2013 had NBA owners not rejected investor Chris Hansen's bid?

Seattle had lost the SuperSonics in 2008, and the Kings were sold instead to a group led by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadivé.

Which team's entire starting five shared the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in January 2015?

The Atlanta Hawks went 17–0 that month, so the league honoured all five starters together rather than pick one.

Which assistant took over a conference-leading NBA team as head coach in January 2016 and won the title that June?

Tyronn Lue replaced David Blatt, who was fired with a 30–11 record, the best in the Eastern Conference at the time.

Which coach led his team to the 2019 NBA title after 11 seasons coaching in Europe, mostly in Britain?

Nick Nurse began as a player-coach with the Derby Rams in 1990. He won the 2019 title in his first season as an NBA head coach.

Which college set a record with five first-round picks in the 2010 NBA draft, led by John Wall at No. 1?

Kentucky also sent DeMarcus Cousins fifth and three more teammates later in the round. No school had produced five first-round picks in one draft before.

Which 5-foot-9 guard became the first three-time winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2010?

Nate Robinson's first title, in 2006, included a leap over Spud Webb, the 1986 champion, that earned a perfect score of 50.