179 Fun Facts About NBA

Who was named Finals MVP in 2006 as his team won its first NBA championship?

Dwyane Wade's team lost the first two games of that series, then he averaged more than 39 points as it won the next four.

Which team came back from 3–1 down to win the 2016 NBA Finals in seven games?

Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to overturn a 3–1 deficit in the Finals, and the title ended the city's 52-year wait for a major championship.

Which holiday does the NBA mark each year with a five-game showcase?

Christmas Day brings five NBA games one after another; on the holiday in 1984 Bernard King scored 60 points and still finished on the losing side.

Which sharpshooter scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to steal a 1995 playoff game on the road?

Reggie Miller hit a three, stole the inbounds pass and hit another, then sank two free throws, turning a 105–99 deficit into a 107–105 win.

Which violation is called for swatting a shot that is already on its way down?

Goaltending was first outlawed in the college game in the 1940s, because the era's towering centers kept swatting shots away at the rim.

Which player holds the record for most points scored in a single NBA game?

Wilt Chamberlain scored his 100 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1962; a poor foul shooter for his whole career, he made 28 of 32 free throws that night.

Who was the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft?

LeBron James never had to leave home: his home-state team had just finished 17–65, won the draft lottery and took the Akron high-schooler first.

Which forward led the NBA in rebounding for seven straight seasons, the last three with the Chicago Bulls?

Dennis Rodman won seven straight rebounding titles at just 6-foot-7, and reached the Hall of Fame while averaging only 7.3 points a game for his career.

Which point guard won back-to-back MVP awards in 2005 and 2006?

Steve Nash was overlooked by the big American college programs and ended up at Santa Clara; he did not win the first of his two MVP awards until his ninth NBA season.

What is the award presented each year to the winner of the NBA Finals called?

The Larry O'Brien Trophy is named for a politician turned commissioner: he chaired the Democratic Party, then took over the NBA in 1975 and pushed through its merger with the ABA.

Which player won the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 2019?

Luka Doncic arrived at 19 already a EuroLeague champion and MVP with Real Madrid, which is why 98 of the 100 first-place votes went his way.

Where do the Toronto Raptors play their home games?

Scotiabank Arena opened in 1999 and took its current name in 2018; before it, the Raptors played their home games in SkyDome, the Blue Jays' baseball stadium.

Which NBA player is known for his signature skyhook shot?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar honed the skyhook in college once the dunk was banned, days after his 1967 title; critics dubbed the ban the 'Alcindor Rule', after the name he then used.

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

Orlando Magic luck held: a year after drafting Shaquille O'Neal they won the lottery again and swapped that pick for Penny Hardaway, and the pair reached the 1995 Finals.

Which NBA team moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008?

The Thunder went 23–59 in their first season after the move, yet reached the NBA Finals just three years later.

Who holds the NBA record for most career assists?

John Stockton piled up 15,806 assists by almost never sitting out: he missed only 22 games in 19 seasons, all with one team.

Which team did Allen Iverson lead to the 2001 NBA Finals?

Allen Iverson, the 2001 MVP, carried the Philadelphia 76ers to the Finals, where they took Game 1 in overtime before losing to the Lakers in five.

Which pint-sized guard beat his own teammate to win the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest?

Spud Webb, a rookie more than a foot shorter than Dominique Wilkins, outdunked his famous teammate on the same 10-foot rim everyone else uses.

Which NBA franchise did Tim Duncan spend his entire 19-season career with?

San Antonio Spurs fortunes turned on one bad year: with their star center injured they fell into the lottery, won the first pick, and Tim Duncan repaid them with five titles.

Who was named Finals MVP in 2026 after leading New York to its first NBA title in 53 years?

Jalen Brunson was only a second-round pick, 33rd overall in 2018; eight years later he was Finals MVP for a team that had not won a title since 1973.

Who was the first NBA player to be unanimously named MVP?

Stephen Curry took all 131 first-place votes in 2016; Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 and LeBron James in 2013 had each missed a unanimous award by a single vote.

Which NBA team plays at Madison Square Garden?

New York Knicks teams have called Madison Square Garden home since 1968, and in 2026 they ended a 53-year wait by winning their first championship since 1973.

How many games are in a standard NBA regular season for each team?

82 games is the full schedule, 41 at home and 41 away; lockouts cut it to 50 games in 1999 and 66 in 2011–12.

The 1992 'Dream Team' of NBA stars won Olympic gold in which host city?

Barcelona saw the first Olympic team of NBA stars win by an average of almost 44 points, while opposing players asked to have their photographs taken with them.

Which French teenager was the first overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft?

Victor Wembanyama was a unanimous Rookie of the Year, and within three seasons he had taken a team that won 22 games the year before he arrived to the NBA Finals.

Which NBA coach is the all-time leader in regular season wins?

Gregg Popovich won every one of those games with one franchise; the run began in 1996 when, as its general manager, he removed the coach 18 games into the season and took the job himself.

Which center nicknamed 'The Process' won the NBA's MVP award in 2023?

Joel Embiid was drafted third in 2014 but did not play his first NBA game until October 2016, more than two years later.

Which player was the prize of the NBA's first draft lottery, in 1985?

Patrick Ewing was the prize of a lottery invented to stop teams losing on purpose: in 1985 every team that missed the playoffs had an equal chance at the first pick.

Which Lakers guard's silhouette inspired the NBA logo?

Jerry West: designer Alan Siegel based the 1969 logo on a photo of the Lakers guard dribbling, which is why West was nicknamed 'The Logo'.

Which Argentine star won four NBA titles and an Olympic gold medal in 2004?

Manu Ginóbili was only the 57th pick of the 1999 draft, yet in 2004 he led Argentina past a United States team of NBA players on the way to that gold.

The fast-breaking Lakers teams that won five titles in the 1980s were known by what nickname?

Showtime was owner Jerry Buss's idea: he bought the team in 1979 wanting games to feel like Hollywood entertainment, and the fast break delivered five championships.

Which arena has been the Brooklyn Nets' home since 2012?

Barclays Center opened in September 2012 not with basketball but with eight sold-out concerts by Jay-Z, who grew up in Brooklyn.

Who was known as The Dream and led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995?

Hakeem Olajuwon grew up in Lagos as a soccer goalkeeper and took up basketball only as a teenager; that footwork became his signature post move, the 'Dream Shake'.

Which expansion team became the NBA's 30th franchise in 2004?

Charlotte Bobcats filled a gap: the city's first NBA team had moved away in 2002, and in 2014 the Bobcats took back its old name and history.

Which country is Nikola Jokic from?

Nikola Jokić is from Serbia, born in Sombor, the town that named his one-footed fadeaway, the 'Sombor Shuffle'.

What is a triple-double in basketball?

Ten or more in three stats in one game. Ten in four is far rarer: steals and blocks were not counted until 1973–74, and only four official quadruple-doubles have followed.

Which Hall of Fame center was nicknamed 'The Admiral'?

David Robinson earned 'The Admiral' at the U.S. Naval Academy before joining the Spurs in 1989; he was 1995 MVP and won titles in 1999 and 2003.

Which team did Dominique Wilkins star for from 1982 to 1994?

Atlanta Hawks never drafted Dominique Wilkins: Utah took him third in 1982 and traded him within months, and he became the Hawks' all-time leading scorer.

Who was the surprise Finals MVP when the Warriors won the 2015 NBA championship?

Andre Iguodala had not started a game all season until Game 4, when he was moved into the lineup to guard LeBron James; the Warriors won the next three games.

What is the shot clock duration in the NBA?

24 seconds came from simple arithmetic: a lively game saw each team take about 60 shots, so the clock's inventors divided the 2,880 seconds in a game by 120.

Which player holds the record for most consecutive games played in the NBA?

A.C. Green's 1,192-game streak passed Randy Smith's record in 1997, and it survived an elbow from J. R. Reid that knocked out two of his teeth but cost him no games.

Which shot-blocking center was famous for wagging his finger at opponents after rejecting their shots?

Dikembe Mutombo's finger wag was his trademark; away from the court he set up a foundation in 1997 to improve health and education in his native Congo.

At which college did Michael Jordan win the 1982 NCAA championship?

Michael Jordan played at North Carolina from 1981 to 1984; as a freshman he hit the winning jumper against Georgetown in the 1982 NCAA final.

Who is the youngest player ever to win NBA Finals MVP, taking the award as a 20-year-old rookie in 1980?

Magic Johnson, a 20-year-old guard, started at center in the clinching Game 6 for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and scored 42 points; he won the award again two years later.

Which country is Luka Doncic from?

Luka Doncic is from Slovenia, born in Ljubljana; he starred for Real Madrid as a teenager, and the NBA team that drafted him traded him away the same night.

What NBA event features players competing in slam dunk, three-point, and skills challenges?

All-Star Weekend owes its dunk contest to the rival ABA, which staged the first at its 1976 All-Star Game; Julius Erving won it with a dunk from the free-throw line.

Which team did Kevin Garnett play his first 12 NBA seasons for?

Minnesota Timberwolves made Kevin Garnett the first player in 20 years drafted straight from high school; he left after 12 seasons to chase a title, then returned in 2015 to finish his career.

How does play begin at the start of every NBA game?

A jump ball starts the game, and losing it has a consolation: the team that misses out on the opening tip gets the ball to start the second and third quarters.

Which player has the most NBA championship rings as a player?

Bill Russell won 11 titles in 13 seasons, the last two as player-coach after becoming the NBA's first Black head coach in 1966.

Which jersey number did Michael Jordan wear on his 1995 return from baseball?

Jordan came back in 45, then switched back to his old 23 partway through that spring's playoffs.

The Utah Jazz kept the name they were given in which city, their home from 1974 to 1979?

New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, had the team for its first five seasons; the name made the move to Salt Lake City in 1979 even though the music did not.

Who set the NBA single-game record with 30 assists for Orlando against Denver on December 30, 1990?

Scott Skiles piled up his 30 assists against a Denver team whose run-and-gun system gave up 130.8 points a game that season, the most in NBA history; the old record was 29.

Who recorded the NBA's first official quadruple-double, in his Chicago Bulls debut in 1974?

Nate Thurmond went for 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks against Atlanta in his Bulls debut; blocks had only become an official stat the previous season.

Which team ended the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers' record 33-game winning streak on January 9, 1972?

The Milwaukee Bucks, the defending champions, won 120–104 behind 39 points from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; three years later he was traded to the very team whose streak he had ended.

Which Celtic scored 50 points in a four-overtime 1953 playoff game, sinking 30 of 32 free throws?

Bob Cousy scored 9 of Boston's 12 points in the fourth overtime of a game that lasted more than three hours; a year later he began organizing the players' union.

Which shot-blocking giant retired with more career blocked shots than points scored?

Manute Bol retired with 2,086 blocks against 1,599 points, yet he could shoot from distance too: in one 1993 game he made six three-pointers.

In which country was Gheorghe Mureșan, 1995–96 Most Improved Player and star of My Giant, born?

Gheorghe Mureșan was born in Romania. He earned the award by leading the league in field-goal percentage at 58.4 while averaging 14.5 points and 2.3 blocks for Washington.

Whose 61 points in Game 5 of the 1962 Finals set the single-game Finals record?

Elgin Baylor scored his 61 in a season he spent on Army Reserve duty, joining his team only on weekend passes; they still lost that series in seven games.

The Celtics played which team in the triple-overtime Game 5 of the 1976 Finals?

The Phoenix Suns forced a third overtime with Gar Heard's buzzer-beater, set up when they deliberately called a timeout they did not have, trading a technical foul for the ball at midcourt.

Who coached the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship?

Larry Brown coached Detroit past an opponent with four future Hall of Famers in just five games, adding an NBA title to the NCAA title he had won with Kansas in 1988.

Who scored an NBA-record 37 points in a single quarter, against Sacramento in January 2015?

Klay Thompson made all 13 of his shots, nine of them threes, and outscored the entire Sacramento team 37–22 in the third quarter; the old record was 33.

Whom did Russell Westbrook pass in May 2021 with his 182nd triple-double, an NBA record?

Oscar Robertson's record had stood since he retired in 1974; Westbrook passed it on a night his own team lost by a single point.

Which New York State team was owned by shot-clock pioneer Danny Biasone?

Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone saw his idea pay off at once: his team won the 1955 title in the very first season the shot clock was used.

Which Minneapolis star scored 15 of his team's 18 points in the lowest-scoring game in NBA history?

George Mikan got 15 of the 18 in a 19–18 loss in 1950 because Fort Wayne simply held the ball to keep it from him; such stalling pushed the NBA to adopt a shot clock within a few years.

Which of these was one of the four ABA franchises absorbed by the NBA in the 1976 merger?

The Indiana Pacers joined with the Nuggets, Nets and Spurs in 1976; the Spirits of St. Louis and Kentucky Colonels were paid off instead, the Spirits' owners taking a share of the four teams' TV money.

Which team's owner joined Spencer Haywood in the antitrust suit that opened the NBA to underclassmen?

Seattle SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman signed Haywood despite the rule that players wait four years after high school; once the courts let him play, the NBA created its hardship exception.

Which St. Louis Hawks forward was the first winner of the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, in 1956?

Bob Pettit took the first award, then scored 50 points in the deciding game of the 1958 Finals to dethrone Boston and give the Hawks their only championship.

Which Hall of Famer was known for shooting his free throws underhand?

Rick Barry's granny-style shot made him one of the most accurate foul shooters of his era, about 90 percent for his career, and his son Canyon later adopted it too.

Which team won the first NBA Cup (then called the In-Season Tournament) in December 2023?

The Los Angeles Lakers beat Indiana in the Las Vegas final behind tournament MVP LeBron James; it was the only game of the event that did not count as a regular-season game.

Where was the 2020 NBA 'bubble' set up to finish the pandemic-interrupted season?

Walt Disney World near Orlando sealed in the 22 teams still in playoff contention, and the league's testing reports kept showing zero positive results among players as play resumed.

Which eighth-seeded team did the Denver Nuggets beat in 2023 for the first championship in franchise history?

The Miami Heat lost their first play-in game and needed a win over Chicago just to make the playoffs, then became only the second No. 8 seed to reach the Finals, where Denver won in five.

Nikola Jokić's 2014 draft selection was overshadowed on ESPN by a commercial for which brand?

Taco Bell's commercial filled the ESPN broadcast while Jokić's name, the 41st pick, scrolled past on the ticker below; he went on to win three MVP awards.

Who was named Finals MVP when Boston beat Dallas in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals?

Jaylen Brown, already the East finals MVP, took seven of the 11 votes ahead of Jayson Tatum; a year earlier he had signed what was then the richest contract in NBA history.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the first player from which country to win NBA Finals MVP, in 2025?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave Canada its first Finals MVP in a season when he was also league MVP and scoring champion; the Clippers had traded him to Oklahoma City in 2019 to land Paul George.

Which Pacers star tore his Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals?

Tyrese Haliburton, already playing on a strained calf, had hit three early threes when he went down; Indiana still led 48-47 at halftime before Oklahoma City pulled away for the title.

Which team did Carmelo Anthony begin his NBA career with in 2003?

Carmelo Anthony joined the Denver Nuggets months after leading Syracuse to the NCAA title as a freshman, and took a team that had gone 17-65 to the playoffs in his rookie season.

Who did Dallas take first in the 2025 NBA draft after winning the lottery on a 1.8% chance?

Cooper Flagg fell to Dallas after the Mavericks won a coin toss with Chicago for the 11th lottery slot, then leapt ten places to the top pick.

At which college did Larry Bird play before joining the Celtics?

Larry Bird led Indiana State to an unbeaten regular season and the 1979 NCAA final, where the Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson's Michigan State.

Whose Game 7 buzzer-beater bounced four times on the rim before dropping to beat the 76ers in 2019?

Kawhi Leonard's shot from the corner was the first buzzer-beater ever to win a Game 7, and Toronto went on to take its first championship a month later.

Which Lithuanian center did Portland draft in 1986 but first play for in 1995?

Arvydas Sabonis was drafted 24th by Portland in 1986 but stayed in Europe for nine more years, arriving at 30 with battered legs; he still made the All-Rookie first team.

Which three-time Defensive Player of the Year was left off the 75th Anniversary Team?

Dwight Howard missed out even though a tie in the voting stretched the list to 76 players; Stan Van Gundy, his old Orlando coach, called the omission 'absolutely ridiculous'.

Which star did Dallas get back when it traded Luka Dončić to the Lakers in February 2025?

Anthony Davis went to Dallas in the three-team deal; Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison defended trading a 25-year-old star by saying 'defense wins championships'.

How long is an NBA overtime period?

Each NBA overtime period lasts 5 minutes, and another begins whenever the score is still tied; in 1951 Indianapolis needed six of them to beat Rochester 75-73.

Which NBA team's home city is nicknamed 'Rip City'?

The Trail Blazers' announcer Bill Schonely shouted 'Rip City!' after a long basket against the Lakers in the team's first season, and the phrase became a nickname for Portland itself.

How long is an NBA court from baseline to baseline?

An NBA court is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide; the college court is the same length, while FIBA courts are 28 metres, about 92 feet.

Which Hall of Fame power forward was nicknamed 'The Mailman'?

Karl Malone was nicknamed 'The Mailman' in college at Louisiana Tech because he always delivered; he went on to win two MVP awards and make 14 All-Star teams without ever winning a title.

Who won the NBA's first three Three-Point Contests, from 1986 to 1988?

Larry Bird walked into the locker room before the first contest in 1986 and asked which of his rivals was going to finish second, then won it and the next two.

Which city have the Golden State Warriors called home since 2019?

The Warriors moved into San Francisco's Chase Center in 2019 after decades across the bay in Oakland; the 'Golden State' name dates to 1971 and was meant to represent all of California.

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a single game against which team?

Kobe Bryant scored 55 of his 81 points after halftime against the Toronto Raptors, turning a 14-point halftime deficit into a 122-104 Lakers win.

Which number did Kobe Bryant wear before switching to No. 24 in 2006?

Kobe Bryant wore No. 8 from 1996 to 2006 and No. 24 for his final ten seasons; the Lakers retired both numbers in 2017.

Stephen Curry played his college basketball at which school?

At Davidson, Curry was twice Southern Conference Player of the Year and led the 10th-seeded Wildcats to the 2008 Elite Eight before going seventh in the 2009 draft.

Who served as NBA commissioner for exactly 30 years, from 1984 to 2014?

David Stern took office on 1 February 1984 and stepped down 30 years later to the day; under him the league added seven teams and launched the WNBA.

Who coached the Golden State Warriors to four championships between 2015 and 2022?

Steve Kerr, hired in 2014 as a first-time head coach, won 67 games and the title in his first season; he already owned five rings as a player with the Bulls and Spurs.

Which Hall of Famer was nicknamed 'The Round Mound of Rebound'?

Charles Barkley picked up 'The Round Mound of Rebound' as a heavyset star at Auburn; listed at 6-foot-6 but closer to 6-foot-4, he still outrebounded far taller power forwards.

Which innovation did the NBA borrow from the ABA in 1979?

The three-pointer had been an ABA signature since 1967; the NBA adopted it on a one-year trial for 1979-80, and Boston's Chris Ford is credited with the first make.

Which team did James Harden win the 2018 NBA MVP with?

James Harden won the 2017-18 MVP with the Houston Rockets after finishing second in the voting in 2015 and 2017; he had arrived by trade in 2012, fresh from winning the award for the league's best reserve.

Which coach has won the most NBA championships as a head coach?

Phil Jackson won six titles with the Bulls and five with the Lakers, passing Red Auerbach's nine when the Lakers beat Orlando in 2009; he also won two as a Knicks player.

Which guard was nicknamed 'The Answer'?

Allen Iverson, 'The Answer', was the 2001 MVP and led the league in scoring four times despite standing six feet tall.

LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 2023 to take which NBA career record?

Most points: a 38-point night against Oklahoma City took him past Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the record holder since 1984, though the Lakers lost the game.

What is "traveling" in basketball?

Traveling is taking too many steps without dribbling: the NBA and FIBA allow two steps after a player gathers the ball, and a third without a dribble hands possession to the other team.

Which team drafted Kobe Bryant in 1996, then traded him to the Lakers?

The Charlotte Hornets took Bryant 13th and sent him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac in a deal agreed before the draft; it nearly collapsed when Divac threatened to retire rather than report to Charlotte.

Who won the 2014 NBA MVP award while playing for Oklahoma City?

Kevin Durant won the 2013-14 MVP after averaging 32 points for his fourth scoring title, and gave the 'You the real MVP' speech to his mother.

The NBA All-Star Game is typically held during which month?

The All-Star Game is played in February, around the season's midpoint, though the very first one, at Boston Garden in 1951, tipped off on March 2.

Who won back-to-back NBA MVP awards in 2019 and 2020?

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 'Greek Freak', won MVP in 2019 and 2020, added Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, and led Milwaukee to its first title in 50 years in 2021.

Michael Jordan's 'Flu Game' in the 1997 Finals was played against which team?

Visibly ill, Jordan scored 38 against the Utah Jazz in Game 5 in Salt Lake City, including the go-ahead three with 25 seconds left, and collapsed into Scottie Pippen's arms afterward.

In which country was Dirk Nowitzki, the first European to win NBA MVP, born?

Dirk Nowitzki was born in Würzburg, Germany, and retired as the highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history, a seven-footer whose long-range shooting changed how big men play.

Whose corner three with 5.2 seconds left tied Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals for Miami?

Ray Allen backpedalled to the right corner after Chris Bosh's offensive rebound and hit the tying shot; Miami won in overtime and took Game 7 for the title.

Which team did Jason Kidd lead to consecutive NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003?

Jason Kidd arrived in a 2001 trade for Stephon Marbury and lifted the New Jersey Nets from 26 wins to 52, reaching the Finals in each of his first two seasons there.

Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets centre, represented which country in international play?

Yao Ming played for China at three Olympics and carried its flag at the 2004 and 2008 opening ceremonies; Houston had made him the first overall pick in 2002 from the Shanghai Sharks.

Who coached Dirk Nowitzki's team to the 2011 NBA championship?

Rick Carlisle, a reserve on Boston's 1986 champions, beat LeBron James's Miami in six games to add a title as a coach; in 2025 he took Indiana to the Finals.

What kind of venue did the NBA's 1946 founders own?

Hockey arenas in the big northeastern and midwestern cities had open dates to fill, so their owners founded the Basketball Association of America; its first game was played in Toronto.

Which Spurs guard was nicknamed 'The Iceman'?

George Gervin, 'The Iceman', won the 1978 scoring title on the season's last day: David Thompson scored 73, so Gervin answered with 63 to edge him by seven-hundredths of a point.

Who coached the 'Big Three' of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the 2008 NBA title?

Doc Rivers coached the trio Boston assembled by trading for Garnett and Allen in summer 2007, turning a 24-win team into a 66-win champion in a single season.

Which Croatian forward won three titles as the Bulls' sixth man in the second three-peat?

Toni Kukoč was hounded by Jordan and Pippen at the 1992 Olympics, irritated by how hard Chicago had courted him; he joined them a year later and was Sixth Man of the Year in 1996.

Which center did Portland take second overall in 1984, one pick before Michael Jordan?

Portland, set at guard with Clyde Drexler, took Kentucky center Sam Bowie second; leg injuries wrecked his five seasons there while Jordan went third to Chicago.

Who was named Finals MVP when the Celtics beat the Lakers in 2008?

Paul Pierce left Game 1 in a wheelchair with a knee injury, returned minutes later to hit two straight threes that put Boston ahead for good, and averaged 21.8 points in the series.

The Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s were known by what intimidating nickname?

The Bad Boys, led by Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer, bruised their way to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990 before the Bulls finally got past them in 1991.

Tim Duncan, 'The Big Fundamental', played all four of his college seasons at which university?

Tim Duncan played all four years at Wake Forest, yet only took up basketball at 14, after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the one Olympic-size pool on St. Croix where he trained as a swimmer.

Which NBA team began lighting a victory beam above its arena in 2022?

The Kings fire the beam from their Sacramento arena after a win; 'Light the beam!' became the fans' chant in 2022-23, the season the team ended a 16-year playoff drought.

On which personal foul is an NBA player disqualified from the game?

The sixth personal foul ends an NBA player's night: six in a 48-minute game works out to the same rate as the five allowed in the 40-minute games of FIBA and college basketball.

Which team won the first BAA championship in 1947?

The Philadelphia Warriors, led by scoring champion Joe Fulks, beat the Chicago Stags 4-1 for the title the NBA counts as its first; Chicago had knocked out the Washington Capitols, runaway leaders at 49-11.

Who is credited with inventing the sport of basketball?

James Naismith nailed two peach baskets to a gym balcony at the YMCA training school in Springfield to keep his students busy through a New England winter.

Which NBA team moved from Vancouver in 2001 after only six seasons there?

The Grizzlies never won more than 23 games in a season in Vancouver before owner Michael Heisley moved them to Memphis, leaving Toronto as the NBA's only Canadian team.

Which two NBA expansion teams joined the league for the 1988-89 season?

Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat joined together in 1988: the Hornets won only 20 games yet led the whole NBA in attendance, while the Heat lost their first 17.

Who won the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest with a between-the-legs dunk off a bounce pass?

Vince Carter won the 2000 contest in Oakland with a reverse 360 windmill, a between-the-legs dunk off a bounce from Tracy McGrady, and an elbow-in-the-rim hang.

Which NBA foul, defined as 'unnecessary and excessive contact', brings immediate ejection?

A Flagrant 2 is basketball's red card: immediate ejection plus an automatic fine, while a Flagrant 1 only gets a player thrown out if he commits a second one in the same game.

What is the term for a shot that misses the rim, the net and the backboard entirely?

An air ball touches nothing, and it costs more than the miss: because the shot never reaches the rim, the shot clock keeps running instead of resetting.

Which Hall of Fame guard was nicknamed 'The Glove' for his defense?

Gary Payton became 'The Glove' in the 1993 West finals, when his cousin phoned to say he was holding Phoenix's Kevin Johnson like a baseball in a glove; he was Defensive Player of the Year in 1996.

In which city were the first NBA regular-season games in Europe played in 2011?

London's O2 Arena staged two Nets-Raptors games in March 2011, and the second went to triple overtime before New Jersey won 137-136.

Which hit film inspired the nickname chosen in 1994 for Toronto's NBA expansion team?

Jurassic Park is now also the fans' name for the Toronto square where crowds gather to watch the team's playoff games.

In which 1996 film did NBA star Shaquille O'Neal play a 5,000-year-old genie who emerges from a boombox?

Kazaam has the genie grant three wishes to a 12-year-old boy, and the film was heavily panned by critics.

Which 5-foot-3 guard, the shortest player in NBA history, lasted 14 seasons in the league?

Muggsy Bogues still blocked 39 shots in his NBA career despite his height.

Which 'Shark Tank' investor bought a majority stake in Dallas's NBA team in January 2000?

Mark Cuban paid $285 million for his stake, buying it from H. Ross Perot Jr.

Which US state is home to four NBA teams, one more than Texas?

California's four teams all play in the Pacific Division, where Phoenix is the only club from outside the state.

What kind of fruit baskets served as the goals in basketball's first game, at a YMCA school in 1891?

Peach baskets were closed at the bottom, so the ball had to be retrieved by hand until a small hole was cut to poke it out with a stick.

In which city did the original 'Dream Team' of NBA stars win Olympic gold in 1992?

In Barcelona, USA Basketball took over 80 of the 98 rooms at the hotel where the team stayed.

Which Oscar-winning actor became a courtside Lakers season-ticket holder in 1970, seated beside the visitors' bench?

Jack Nicholson was almost ejected from a Lakers playoff game in 2003 after yelling at a referee.

Which French teenager, rated one of the best prospects ever, went first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft?

Victor Wembanyama was the first French player ever drafted first overall, and only the second European after Andrea Bargnani in 2006.

Which guard, the shortest player ever to enter the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, won it in 1986?

Spud Webb won in his hometown of Dallas, landing two perfect 50-point scores in the final round to beat the defending champion, his own teammate.

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

Steve Ballmer was the highest bidder after a scandal forced out the team's previous owner, Donald Sterling.

Which NBA team was known as the Hornets until it changed its name in 2013?

New Orleans Pelicans honors the brown pelican, Louisiana's state bird, and revives the name of the city's old minor league baseball team.

Which NBA team was known as the Bullets until a 1997 name change?

Washington Wizards replaced a name that owner Abe Pollin felt had violent overtones, a view sharpened by the assassination of his friend Yitzhak Rabin.

Which city lost its six-year-old NBA expansion team to Memphis, Tennessee, after the 2000–01 season?

Vancouver never saw a playoff game: its team won 101 games and lost 359 before leaving.

Which sports drink became title sponsor of the NBA's minor league in 2017, giving it a new name?

Gatorade's deal created the first US professional sports league named for an advertiser.

Which NBA violation, blocking a shot on its downward flight, awards the points as if the shot went in?

Goaltending also covers touching the ball after it has hit the backboard while it still has a chance of going in.

Which commissioner ran the NBA for exactly 30 years, from 1984 to 2014?

David Stern first worked for the league as an outside lawyer in 1966, and seven new franchises joined during his time in charge.

The NBA draft lottery is decided by drawing four of which numbered objects from a machine?

Ping-pong balls are drawn four at a time, and of the 1,001 possible combinations one is thrown out so that exactly 1,000 can be shared among the teams.

Which company took over from Spalding in 2021 as supplier of the official NBA game ball?

Wilson was returning rather than arriving: it supplied the league's first game balls in 1946, decades before Spalding took over in 1983.

Which New England city, where basketball was invented in 1891, is home to the sport's Hall of Fame?

Springfield's hall inducted its first class in 1959 but had no building of its own until 1968.

Which forward nicknamed 'The Worm' led the NBA in rebounds per game for seven straight seasons?

Dennis Rodman got the nickname from his mother, for the way he wriggled while playing pinball.

Which Boston coach, famous for his victory cigars, won eight straight NBA titles from 1959 to 1966?

Red Auerbach lit a cigar whenever he judged a game already won, a habit that became a tradition around Boston.

Which Lakers head coach of the 1980s owns the registered trademark on the phrase 'three-peat'?

Pat Riley says it was his player Byron Scott who came up with the word, during a chase for what would have been a third straight title.

What nickname described the Lakers' up-tempo 1980s teams and their Hollywood-celebrity following at The Forum?

Showtime was shaped by owner Jerry Buss, who hired dancers and a live band and took his inspiration from a nightclub called The Horn.

Which change-of-direction layup move did Manu Ginóbili popularize in the NBA during the 2000s?

The Euro step first reached the NBA in 1989 with Lithuanian guard Šarūnas Marčiulionis, years before it caught on.

What is the nickname for fouling a poor free-throw shooter on purpose, a tactic pioneered by Dallas coach Don Nelson?

Hack-a-Shaq began as a clock-management trick and took its name once it was aimed at Shaquille O'Neal.

What kind of labor dispute shortened the 1998–99 NBA season to 50 games per team?

An owners' lockout, the third of four in league history, ran from July 1998 to January 1999 and also wiped out that season's All-Star Game.

Which NBA event has each conference's seventh to tenth finishers fight for the last two playoff seeds?

The Play-in tournament is played just before the playoffs, and the league regards the two as separate competitions.

Which city has hosted the NBA's main Summer League since 2004, on a university campus?

Las Vegas started with six NBA teams playing 13 games in 2004 and has grown into by far the largest of the summer leagues.

Which 1993 arcade basketball game made the catchphrases 'He's on fire' and 'Boomshakalaka!' famous?

NBA Jam went on to earn more than $2 billion in lifetime revenue from its arcade cabinets.

In which 1998 Spike Lee film did NBA guard Ray Allen play top prospect Jesus Shuttlesworth?

He Got Game follows the top high-school player in the United States as the biggest college programs chase his signature.

Which college star, chosen ahead of Shaquille O'Neal, was the only non-NBA player on the 1992 'Dream Team'?

Christian Laettner had just led Duke to back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992.

In which city did the Los Angeles Clippers franchise begin in 1970, playing as the Braves?

Buffalo lost the team in 1978 after disputes with a college team over dates at its arena and a sale of the franchise.

Houston's NBA team got its space-age nickname in which West Coast city, where it was founded in 1967?

San Diego's slogan 'a city in motion' and its Atlas rocket program inspired the name, four years before the move to Texas.

In which city did the NBA stage its first regular-season games outside North America, in 1990?

Tokyo watched Phoenix and Utah split a two-game series, seven years before the league's first regular-season game in Latin America.

Which Indiana guard scored eight points in 8.9 seconds to beat New York in a 1995 playoff game?

Reggie Miller had made his name a year earlier, scoring 25 points in one fourth quarter in New York while trading words with courtside fan Spike Lee.

Which Georgetown center was the top pick in 1985 after the first-ever NBA draft lottery?

Patrick Ewing joined New York, and a lasting conspiracy theory claims the league rigged that first draw to send him there.

Which NBA forward was banned for 86 games after charging into the Detroit crowd during a 2004 brawl?

Ron Artest had been lying on the scorer's table when a thrown drink hit him, and he grabbed the wrong fan in the stands.

Which NBA referee resigned in 2007 and was jailed for betting on games he had officiated?

Tim Donaghy later admitted betting on games he worked in four straight seasons, and was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

Which clutch-shooting forward won seven NBA championships with three different franchises?

Robert Horry called the 1995 title his proudest, because his Houston team won it as a sixth seed.

Where was the main home of Sacramento's NBA franchise from 1972 until its 1985 move west?

Kansas City at first shared home games with Omaha, and the franchise had already lived in Rochester and Cincinnati.

Which center did Washington take first overall in 2001, the first top pick straight from high school?

Kwame Brown hit back at the 'bust' label in 2021 with a run of YouTube videos, saying sports media had unfairly targeted him for more than twenty years.

Who became the first African American to play in an NBA game, on Halloween night in 1950?

Earl Lloyd got there by an accident of scheduling: Chuck Cooper played a day later and Nat Clifton four days after Lloyd.

Which Baltimore center became only the second NBA player named Rookie of the Year and MVP in one year?

Wes Unseld, nicknamed 'The Oak Tree', averaged 18.2 rebounds a game that year after going second in the draft.

Which musician composed 'Roundball Rock', the theme tune of the NBA on NBC from 1990?

John Tesh thought of the melody in a French hotel room and sang it into his own answering machine so he would not forget it.

Which Boston guard, later the team's head coach, is credited with the first official three-point shot in NBA history?

Chris Ford made the shot in his team's season opener, and came back to coach the same club from 1990 to 1995.

Which 6-foot-10 center, who played in thick round spectacles, was so dominant the NBA widened the foul lane?

George Mikan also gave his name to the Mikan Drill, still a staple exercise for big men.

Which referee became the first woman to officiate an NBA playoff game, in April 2006?

Violet Palmer had joined the league in 1997 alongside Dee Kantner, as the first top-level female officials in any major US pro sport.

Which Maryland forward died of a cocaine overdose two days after Boston drafted him second overall in 1986?

Within weeks of Len Bias's death, Congress began drafting the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which is also known as the 'Len Bias Law'.

Under what name did the Los Angeles arena now called Crypto.com Arena open in 1999?

Staples Center took its present name in 2021, and the arena housed both of the city's NBA teams until the Clippers left for Inglewood in 2024.