50 Fun Facts About Basketball Trivia for Kids

How many players from each team are on the court at the same time in basketball?

Each of the five has a position, from point guard to center.

How many points is a normal shot from inside the arc worth?

Shots from behind the three-point line are worth three, and each free throw is worth one.

How many points is one free throw worth?

Free throws are shot from the foul line, sometimes called the 'charity stripe', with nobody allowed to block them.

Who invented basketball?

He was a gym teacher from Canada working in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891.

What did the very first basketball hoops actually look like?

They still had their bottoms in, so someone had to climb up and get the ball out after every basket.

In which country was basketball's inventor born?

James Naismith came from Almonte, Ontario, and later started the University of Kansas basketball team.

What is it called when a player bounces the ball while moving?

You have to use one hand at a time; using both at once is a double dribble.

What is a 'rebound' in basketball?

Both the offense and the defense can grab one; Wilt Chamberlain once had 55 in a single game.

What is it called when a player runs with the ball without bouncing it?

Moving your pivot foot without dribbling is a violation and the other team gets the ball.

What is a slam dunk?

Dunking was actually banned in college and high school games from 1967 to 1976.

How many teams are in the NBA?

Twenty-nine are in the United States and one, the Toronto Raptors, is in Canada.

How many games does each NBA team play in a regular season?

The season runs from October to April before the playoffs begin.

Which team had won the most NBA championships, 18, by the end of the 2024-25 season?

The Celtics had 18; the Lakers were second with 17.

Which team did Michael Jordan win six championships with?

He could dunk from the free-throw line, which is how he got the nickname 'Air Jordan'.

In the movie Space Jam, Michael Jordan plays basketball with which cartoon characters?

He comes out of retirement to help Bugs Bunny and friends beat aliens who want to kidnap them.

Which shoe company makes Michael Jordan's famous sneaker line?

The first pair was made for Jordan in 1984; the 'Jumpman' logo comes from a photo taken before the 1984 Olympics.

Which team picked LeBron James first in the 2003 draft, straight out of high school?

He later won championships with the Heat, the Cavaliers and the Lakers.

Which team drafted Stephen Curry seventh overall in 2009?

He is a point guard famous for three-pointers and won four championships with them between 2015 and 2022.

What was Kobe Bryant's nickname?

He played all 20 of his seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers and won five titles.

Which team did Kobe Bryant play for his entire career?

He was actually drafted by the Hornets and traded to the Lakers right away.

How tall is Shaquille O'Neal?

He weighed 325 pounds, won four championships and was nicknamed 'Diesel'.

Which team drafted Shaquille O'Neal first overall in 1992?

He played college ball at LSU and later won three straight titles with the Lakers.

Which WNBA team drafted Caitlin Clark first overall in 2024?

At Iowa she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history.

Which college did Caitlin Clark star for?

She grew up in West Des Moines and led the Hawkeyes to their first national championship game.

What is Giannis Antetokounmpo's nickname?

He was born in Athens to Nigerian parents and won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.

Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-plus star picked first in 2023, comes from which country?

He led the NBA in blocks as a rookie and was voted Rookie of the Year unanimously.

Which team drafted Victor Wembanyama?

His nicknames are 'Wemby' and 'the Alien'.

Which famous team plays funny trick-shot exhibition games and usually beats the Washington Generals?

They started in Chicago in 1926 and have played more than 26,000 games in 124 countries.

What is the famous whistled theme song of the trick-shot team from Harlem?

Their mascot is a globe with a face called 'Globie'.

What is the nickname of the big college basketball tournament held every spring?

It started in 1939; UCLA has won the most titles with 11.

Which college has won the most men's NCAA tournament titles?

Their coach John Wooden won 10 of the 11 by himself.

What was the nickname of the 1992 US Olympic squad with Jordan, Magic and Bird?

It was the first US Olympic team with NBA pros, and it won its games by an average of 44 points.

In which year did the WNBA start playing games?

The league was approved in 1996 with stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes at the announcement.

Where did the Lakers play before moving to Los Angeles?

That is where the 'Lakers' name comes from: Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

In which city did Steph Curry's team, the Warriors, start out in 1946?

They moved to the Bay Area in 1962 and became 'Golden State' in 1971.

How many games did Jordan's Bulls win in the 1995-96 season, a record at the time?

The Warriors beat it with 73 wins twenty years later.

Yao Ming, the 7-foot-6 center who played for the Houston Rockets, came from which country?

He was picked first overall in 2002 and is one of the most famous athletes in China.

How tall was Muggsy Bogues, the shortest player ever in the NBA?

He played 14 seasons, mostly for the Charlotte Hornets.

Who is the only player to score 100 points in one NBA game?

He did it in 1962; Kobe's 81 is the second-highest.

Which shot was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar famous for?

He won a record six MVP awards and six championships with the Bucks and Lakers.

What was the nickname of the Lakers' fast, flashy teams led by Magic Johnson in the 1980s?

Magic won five championships with them after being drafted first overall in 1979.

Which team picked Serbian star Nikola Jokić 41st in the 2014 draft?

He averaged a triple-double for a whole season and led them to the 2023 title.

Which country does Luka Dončić come from?

He now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers after starting his NBA career in Dallas.

Which WNBA great, nicknamed the 'White Mamba', won six Olympic gold medals?

She spent all 20 of her seasons with the Phoenix Mercury.

Sue Bird spent her entire WNBA career with which team?

She was the first pick in the 2002 draft after an undefeated season at UConn.

Angel Reese, the 'Bayou Barbie', led which college to a national championship?

She set the NCAA record for double-doubles in a season.

Which company became the maker of the official NBA game ball again in 2021?

Spalding made it from 1983 to 2021, when the league went back to Wilson after 37 years.

In which US state was basketball invented in 1891?

James Naismith came up with the game in Springfield, Massachusetts, at a YMCA training school that is now Springfield College.

Why did James Naismith invent basketball in the first place?

He needed a vigorous indoor game for rainy days and long New England winters, and rejected other ideas as too rough for a walled-in gym.

What name did student Frank Mahan first suggest for the new game before settling on 'basketball'?

Naismith laughed and said a name like that would kill any game; Mahan then pointed out they had a basket and a ball, so 'basketball' it was.