50 Fun Facts About 2015-16 NBA Season

The Warriors topped the 2015-16 NBA standings with which record, the best in league history?

A 73–9 finish broke a 20-year-old record, and Golden State never lost two regular-season games in a row or twice to the same opponent.

Stephen Curry's 2015-16 MVP award was the first in NBA history to be won in what way?

By unanimous vote meant all 131 first-place ballots, a sweep that Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James had each missed by a single vote.

The Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals as the first team to overcome which series deficit?

Trailing 3–1 after four games, Cleveland won three straight, two of them on the road, to claim the franchise's first championship.

Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in the final game of his NBA career in April 2016 against which team?

The Utah Jazz were outscored 23–21 by Bryant alone in the fourth quarter as he finished a comeback win with 60 points on a career-high 50 shots.

Which team finished last in the 2015-16 NBA standings at 10–72 after losing its first 18 games?

The Philadelphia 76ers lost 28 straight across two seasons, then the longest skid in American pro sports, before finally winning on December 1.

In Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, Stephen Curry was ejected after throwing what into the crowd?

His mouthpiece flew toward a courtside fan after Curry picked up his sixth foul, bringing the first ejection of his career.

The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was the first played outside the United States; which country hosted it?

Canada staged it at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, where the West won 196–173 in the last All-Star Game of Kobe Bryant, an 18-time selection.

Whose 1995–96 team held the NBA record for wins in a season until the 2015-16 Warriors broke it?

Michael Jordan's side followed its record season with a championship, the one prize the 2015-16 Warriors could not add.

Which star joined the Warriors weeks after losing to them in the 2016 Western Conference finals?

Kevin Durant announced the move on July 4, 2016, having scored 40 points in a Game 5 defeat during that seven-game series.

The Cavaliers' 2016 title was Cleveland's first major championship since which team won in 1964?

The Browns beat the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship Game, two seasons before the first Super Bowl, and the city then waited 52 years.

Which Cavaliers guard hit the go-ahead three over Stephen Curry late in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals?

Kyrie Irving's three with 53 seconds left put Cleveland ahead 92–89 and is now known simply as The Shot.

Which Warriors player was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 Finals after a clash with LeBron James?

Draymond Green had hit the playoff limit on flagrant foul points; Golden State, one win from the title, lost that game and the next two.

Which team went 40–1 at home and won 67 games in 2015-16 yet finished only second in the West?

The San Antonio Spurs opened with an NBA-record 39 straight home wins and still ended six games behind Golden State.

Which team's franchise-record 56 wins in 2015-16 left it one game behind Cleveland atop the East?

The Toronto Raptors then won a seven-game series for the first time and reached their first Eastern Conference finals, losing to Cleveland in six.

Which team came within one win of knocking out the Warriors in the 2016 West finals?

The Oklahoma City Thunder had won Games 3 and 4 by a combined 52 points, then let a 13-point lead slip away in Game 7.

Which assistant replaced David Blatt in January 2016 and coached the Cavaliers to the NBA title?

Tyronn Lue took over a team that was 30–11 and leading the East, then became the first coach to win his first ten playoff games.

Which big man in April 2016 became the first NBA player to win 1,000 games with a single team?

Tim Duncan joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish, then the only players with 1,000 wins, and retired that July after 19 seasons.

Which No. 1 pick of the 2015 draft won the 2015-16 NBA Rookie of the Year award with Minnesota?

Karl-Anthony Towns started all 82 games, averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds, and followed teammate Andrew Wiggins as the award's winner.

In November 2015, Kobe Bryant announced that the 2015-16 season would be his last in what form?

A poem titled Dear Basketball ran on The Players' Tribune, and its 2017 animated film version won Bryant an Academy Award.

Which coach won 2015-16 NBA Coach of the Year despite missing his team's first 43 games?

Steve Kerr returned from back surgery on January 22 to a team already 39–4 under an assistant, and league rules credited every one of those wins to him.

Which 2015 Finals MVP had a late layup blocked by LeBron James in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals?

Andre Iguodala's shot would have broken an 89–89 tie; James caught him from behind in a play remembered as The Block.

Which Warriors guard made a then-playoff-record 11 three-pointers in Game 6 of the 2016 West finals?

Klay Thompson scored 41 points on the road with Golden State facing elimination, forcing a Game 7 that it won at home.

Which 12–51 team stunned the 55–5 Warriors by 17 points in a March 2016 regular-season game?

The Los Angeles Lakers' 112–95 win was the first by a team winning under 20% of its games over one winning over 90% so late in a season.

Which team ended the best start in NBA history by handing the 2015-16 Warriors their first loss?

The Milwaukee Bucks stopped Golden State at 24–0, a start that had already passed the 20–0 of baseball's 1884 St. Louis Maroons.

Which European rookie was booed by Knicks fans at the 2015 draft, then starred for them in 2015-16?

Kristaps Porziņģis, taken fourth overall, won over the crowd and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Which Timberwolves guard beat Aaron Gordon to win the 2016 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Zach LaVine defended his title with dunks that included a windmill from the free-throw line, scoring 299 points overall.

Whose 18 triple-doubles in 2015-16 tied Magic Johnson for the most in a season since 1976?

Russell Westbrook also won a second straight All-Star Game MVP that February, the first player to take consecutive awards outright.

Which forward won a second straight Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015-16?

Kawhi Leonard was the first non-center to win it in back-to-back seasons since Dennis Rodman, and he finished second in the MVP race.

Which assistant led the Warriors to a 39–4 start in 2015-16 as interim head coach?

Luke Walton was named a Coach of the Month while officially winless, because NBA rules credited the victories to the absent head coach.

Stephen Curry broke his own record of 286 three-pointers in a season by making how many in 2015-16?

402 threes beat the old mark by 116, and Curry got there with ten on the final night of the regular season.

Which team snapped the Warriors' record 54-game home winning streak on April 1, 2016?

The Boston Celtics won 109–106 in Oakland, ending a regular-season run that stretched back to the previous year.

Four East teams tied at 48–34 in 2015-16; which took the No. 3 seed as Southeast Division champion?

The Miami Heat won the division on a three-team tiebreaker, and that title then broke the tie with the fourth 48-win club.

Which team reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009 as the East's eighth seed in 2015-16?

The Detroit Pistons were the first No. 8 seed in the East with a winning record in four years, then were swept by Cleveland.

Which team fired coach Kevin McHale 11 games into 2015-16 and scraped into the playoffs at 41–41?

The Houston Rockets, West finalists a year earlier, had opened with three straight defeats by 20 or more, a first in league history.

Which East team missed the 2016 playoffs for the first time since 2008 despite a winning record?

The Chicago Bulls went 42–40 in their first season after parting with coach Tom Thibodeau and finished ninth, two games short.

Stephen Curry scored a record 17 points in a single overtime of a 2016 playoff win over which team?

The Portland Trail Blazers were on the wrong end of a 40-point night in Curry's first game back from a knee sprain that had cost him two weeks.

Which veteran played his 21st and final NBA season in 2015-16 back with the Minnesota Timberwolves?

Kevin Garnett was the last active player from the 1995 draft and that December became the NBA's career leader in defensive rebounds.

Which All-Star guard set an NBA single-season record with 374 turnovers in 2015-16?

James Harden passed the 366 of Artis Gilmore, a mark that had stood since 1977–78, the first season the league counted individual turnovers.

Which veteran passed Shaquille O'Neal for sixth on the NBA's career scoring list in December 2015?

Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 that night and added the winning basket in overtime of a 119–118 victory over Brooklyn.

Which future MVP made the 2015-16 NBA All-Rookie First Team as a former 41st overall pick?

Nikola Jokić was drafted in 2014 while a Taco Bell commercial aired over the announcement, and he joined Denver a season later.

A seeding change for the 2016 NBA playoffs ended the guaranteed top-four seed for which teams?

Division winners had been promised a top-four seed whatever their record; from 2016 the eight qualifiers in each conference were ranked on record alone.

Which college had four players taken in the 2015 NBA draft lottery, tying the record for one school?

Kentucky's four lottery picks included Devin Booker at No. 13, and six Wildcats were drafted in all, another tied record.

Which guard won 2015-16 Most Improved Player after his scoring average jumped from 6.8 to 20.8?

CJ McCollum was promoted to the starting backcourt after four of his team's previous starters, LaMarcus Aldridge among them, left in one summer.

Which Clippers guard became the first three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2016?

Jamal Crawford was 36 and broke his own record, set in 2014, as the oldest winner the award had seen.

Whose record of 127 straight games with a three-pointer did Stephen Curry break in February 2016?

Kyle Korver's mark fell on February 25, and Curry stretched his own run to 157 games before it ended the following season.

Which point guard led the NBA in assists in 2015-16, his only season with the Sacramento Kings?

Rajon Rondo averaged 11.7 assists on a one-year contract and had the season's highest single-game total, 20.

Which All-Star center set an NBA record in January 2016 by missing 23 free throws in a single game?

Andre Drummond went 13 of 36 at the line, passing the 22 misses of Wilt Chamberlain in 1967, and was named an All-Star for the first time days later.

Which Brazilian played for both 2016 Finals teams, the Cavaliers and the Warriors, during 2015-16?

Anderson Varejão was the first player to appear for both finalists in one season, and he later declined the championship ring Cleveland offered him.

Which five-time NBA champion guard was fired as New York Knicks head coach in February 2016?

Derek Fisher had the team at 22–22 before nine losses in ten games cost him the job, and assistant Kurt Rambis finished the season.

Which Cavaliers big man's defense forced a late Stephen Curry miss in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals?

Kevin Love's stop on the league MVP in the final minute, moments after Cleveland took the lead, is widely credited with helping seal the title.