50 Fun Facts About NBA 2023

Which team won the 2023 NBA Finals, the first championship in its franchise history?

It took 47 seasons; they became only the second former ABA team, after the Spurs, to win an NBA title.

Who was unanimously named MVP of the 2023 NBA Finals?

He averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists and became the lowest draft pick (41st) ever to win the award.

The 2023 Finals ended in how many games?

The clincher was a 94-89 grind in Denver on June 12, one of the lowest-scoring Finals games of the modern era.

Which team reached the 2023 Finals as an eighth seed after coming through the play-in tournament?

They lost their first play-in game to Atlanta, beat Chicago in the second, then knocked out the top-seeded Bucks.

Which top-seeded title favourite did the eighth-seeded Heat upset in the first round in 2023?

Giannis Antetokounmpo hurt his back in Game 1, and the loss cost coach Mike Budenholzer his job.

Jimmy Butler scored a career-high how many points in Game 4 of Miami's first-round upset in 2023?

It set a Heat franchise playoff record and included 22 points in the first quarter alone.

What happened after the Celtics forced Game 7 from 0-3 down against Miami in the 2023 East finals?

No NBA team has ever overturned a 3-0 deficit; Butler was named East finals MVP.

Which seventh seed beat Memphis and Golden State before Denver swept them in the 2023 Western Conference finals?

It was the first time since the 16-team format began in 1984 that both a 7 seed and an 8 seed won a first-round series.

Which franchise ended the longest playoff drought in NBA history, 16 seasons, by qualifying in 2023?

The 'light the beam' Kings had not made the postseason since 2006; Mike Brown was voted Coach of the Year.

Who scored 50 points in Game 7 against Sacramento in 2023, the first 50-point Game 7 in NBA history?

The defending champion Warriors advanced but fell to the Lakers in the next round.

Whose 51 points against Philadelphia in 2023 set the record for most points in a Game 7?

Boston then blew a 3-0 comeback attempt in the next round, losing Game 7 at home to Miami.

Who won his first NBA MVP in 2022-23 after leading the league with 33.1 points a game?

He beat two-time winner Jokić and Giannis after finishing runner-up the previous two years.

On February 7, 2023, LeBron James passed whom to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer?

The record-breaking bucket was a fadeaway jumper over Kenrich Williams of the Thunder.

Which two players each scored 71 points in a game during the 2022-23 season?

Mitchell did it for Cleveland against Chicago on January 2; Lillard matched it for Portland against Houston in February.

On December 27, 2022, who became the first player ever to record a 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double?

His 60-21-10 came in an overtime comeback win over the Knicks after Dallas trailed by nine with 33 seconds left.

Who won the 2022-23 Rookie of the Year after going first overall to Orlando in the 2022 draft?

He had been ACC Rookie of the Year at Duke the previous spring.

Which Memphis big man won the 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year award?

He led the league in blocks in the same season he made his first All-Star team.

Which Finnish forward won the 2022-23 Most Improved Player award in his first season with Utah?

He arrived in the Rudy Gobert trade and promptly made his first All-Star team.

Which Celtics guard was the 2022-23 Sixth Man of the Year?

He was traded to Portland that autumn in the Jrue Holiday deal.

Which brand-new award, first handed out in 2023, went to Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox?

The league also renamed its MVP trophy after its most decorated 1990s champion the same season.

After whom did the NBA rename its Most Valuable Player trophy in 2022-23?

The old Maurice Podoloff Trophy went to the team with the best regular-season record instead.

Whose number 6 did the NBA retire league-wide in 2022, the first such honour in its history?

Players already wearing 6, like LeBron James, were allowed to keep it.

Who scored a record 55 points in the 2023 All-Star Game and was named its MVP?

Team Giannis beat Team LeBron 184-175 in the last game played with captain-picked teams.

Where was the 2023 All-Star Game held, 30 years after the venue last hosted it?

The Jazz's Vivint Arena staged it; the 1993 game there featured Karl Malone and John Stockton as co-MVPs.

Which 7-foot-4 French centre went first overall in the 2023 draft?

He had just been named the youngest MVP in French Pro A history and went on to be unanimous Rookie of the Year.

Which team won the 2023 draft lottery and the right to pick Wembanyama?

They had a 14% chance after a 22-60 season, tied for the best odds with Houston and Detroit.

Which Alabama forward did Charlotte take second overall in the 2023 draft, ahead of Scoot Henderson?

Henderson went third to Portland; the Thompson twins Amen and Ausar went fourth and fifth.

Where was the 2023 NBA draft held?

It was the 77th draft, held on June 22, ten days after the Finals ended.

Scoot Henderson, the third pick in 2023, skipped college to play for which team?

He signed at 17, the youngest player in G League history.

Damian Lillard was traded from Portland to which team in September 2023?

The three-team deal sent Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton to Portland; Holiday was flipped to Boston days later.

Kevin Durant was traded from Brooklyn to which team in February 2023?

Days earlier the Nets had also traded Kyrie Irving to Dallas, ending their superteam experiment.

Which team traded Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie for Kyrie Irving at the 2023 deadline?

Pairing him with the Mavericks' Slovenian superstar didn't save that season, but the duo reached the Finals a year later.

Which team won the NBA's first In-Season Tournament, beating Indiana in the December 2023 final?

LeBron James was tournament MVP and the Lakers went unbeaten through the event.

Where were the semifinals and final of the inaugural 2023 In-Season Tournament played?

The Lakers went undefeated through the tournament to lift the first NBA Cup.

How much prize money did each player on the 2023 In-Season Tournament-winning team receive?

Runners-up got $200,000 each and semifinal losers $100,000.

In June 2023 the NBA suspended Ja Morant for how many games over a second video of him brandishing a gun?

He had already served an eight-game ban in March for the first, filmed at a Colorado nightclub.

For roughly how much did the Hornets' legendary majority owner sell his stake in 2023?

The sale to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall was approved on July 23.

Which owner was suspended in September 2022, then sold his team to Mat Ishbia for a record price?

The $4 billion Suns and Mercury sale broke Joe Tsai's Nets record; Ishbia's brother Justin joined the group.

Which coach did Philadelphia fire in May 2023 after another second-round exit?

His replacement came from Toronto; Rivers resurfaced in Milwaukee the following January.

At 42 years and 363 days, who became the oldest player ever to appear in an NBA Finals game in June 2023?

The Miami lifer surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 1989 mark in the final week of his 20-year career.

Which country won the 2023 FIBA World Cup, beating Serbia in the final, while the USA finished fourth?

Dennis Schröder's side went unbeaten; Canada took bronze, its first World Cup medal, by beating the Americans 127-118.

In 2022, who first posted 50+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 5+ blocks in an NBA game?

His 59-point night against Utah included 26 points and 5 blocks in the fourth quarter alone.

Which former Toronto coach took over the Philadelphia 76ers in the summer of 2023?

Ime Udoka landed in Houston and Monty Williams in Detroit in the same coaching carousel.

Who was Denver's head coach for the 2023 title run, in his eighth season with the team?

He had coached Team LeBron at the All-Star Game that February by virtue of Denver leading the West.

Which Heat wing averaged 19.3 points in the 2023 East finals and nearly took the series MVP?

Undrafted like several Miami rotation players, he narrowly lost the award vote to Jimmy Butler.

After Washington got him for Bradley Beal in 2023, Chris Paul was traded on to which team?

The Warriors sent Jordan Poole the other way, ending Poole's time with the team after his fight with Draymond Green.

Which team hired Adrian Griffin as head coach for 2023-24, then fired him mid-season with a 30-13 record?

A veteran title-winning coach took over in January 2024; the Bucks had also acquired Damian Lillard that autumn.

Which team beat the Clippers 176-175 in double overtime in February 2023, the second-highest-scoring game ever?

The shootout took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

How many three-pointers did Keegan Murray make in 2022-23, a record for an NBA rookie?

The Kings forward passed Donovan Mitchell's mark of 187 on March 29, 2023.

The Miami Heat's arena became Kaseya Center in 2023 after a naming deal with which bankrupt company ended?

The building was briefly called Miami-Dade Arena from January 12 before the April 4 renaming.