97 Fun Facts About NBA Basketball

Which NBA team won its record 18th championship in 2024?

Boston Celtics won it two years after losing the 2022 Finals to the Golden State Warriors, and Jaylen Brown was named Finals MVP.

What is presented to the team that wins the NBA Finals?

Larry O'Brien Trophy, named in 1984 for the retiring commissioner who had brought the rival ABA into the NBA.

During his first retirement, Michael Jordan played minor-league baseball in which team's organization?

Chicago White Sox: Jordan signed in 1994 to chase his late father's dream, and the team's owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, also owned the Bulls.

Designer Alan Siegel said he based the NBA logo's silhouette on a photo of which Hall of Famer?

Jerry West is the player Siegel names, though the NBA has never confirmed that any one player is in the logo.

The NBA's 10-foot rim height dates to a gym railing where James Naismith hung peach baskets in which Massachusetts city?

Springfield, where Naismith invented basketball as an indoor game to keep his students active through the long New England winter.

LeBron James was drafted first overall in 2003 by which team?

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2003 draft lottery with just a 22.5 percent chance of the top pick, and used it on the Ohio high-school star.

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

Karl Malone was nicknamed for always delivering, and retired second on the career scoring list without ever winning a championship.

Which rookie point guard played alongside Manute Bol on the 1987–88 Washington Bullets?

Muggsy Bogues later played himself in Space Jam, as one of the NBA stars whose talent the Monstars steal.

Which city do the Golden State Warriors call home?

San Francisco: the Warriors spent decades across the bay in Oakland before moving into the Chase Center in 2019.

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

Kobe Bryant's team trailed the Toronto Raptors by 18 in the third quarter before his second-half scoring brought them back.

Freshman Michael Jordan's jump shot won which college the 1982 NCAA title?

North Carolina won on that shot, which launched the freshman's rise to stardom.

Which NBA team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden?

The New York Knicks play in the fourth Madison Square Garden; only the first two actually stood beside Madison Square.

Stephen Curry played his college basketball at which school?

Davidson: his father's school, Virginia Tech, offered only a walk-on spot, and bigger programs passed on the slender Curry.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played a character named Roger Murdock in which 1980 comedy?

Airplane gave Kareem a lasting side gig: in 2014 he reprised Roger Murdock as the co-pilot in a Delta Air Lines safety video.

Which Duke star was the only college player picked for the 1992 US Olympic 'Dream Team'?

Christian Laettner got the college spot after leading Duke to back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992.

Which rookie filled in at center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to clinch the 1980 NBA Finals?

Magic Johnson scored 42 points in that game and played all five positions along the way.

Which NBA guard was nicknamed 'The Answer'?

Allen Iverson brought a new, hip-hop-influenced sense of style to the NBA.

Which team did LeBron James join in 2010, announcing it on the TV special "The Decision"?

LeBron James told a live ESPN audience he was 'taking my talents to South Beach', and went on to win two championships with the Miami Heat.

As of 2025, which coach had won the most NBA championships as a head coach?

Phil Jackson built his coaching on Eastern and Native American philosophy, which earned him the nickname 'Zen Master'.

In which Pennsylvania community did Wilt Chamberlain score his 100 points in 1962?

Hershey saw Chamberlain, a poor free-throw shooter for his career, make 28 of 32 from the line that night.

What is a "triple-double" in basketball?

Ten or more in three stat categories, though steals and blocks weren't officially recorded until 1973–74, so earlier players could only count points, rebounds and assists.

What is "traveling" in basketball?

Too many steps without dribbling: Naismith's original rules banned running with the ball at all, and the first game had no dribbling.

Tim Duncan spent his entire 19-year career with which franchise?

San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan was a swimmer in the US Virgin Islands until Hurricane Hugo wrecked the island's only Olympic-size pool.

Which team drafted Kobe Bryant 13th overall in 1996, then traded his rights away?

The Charlotte Hornets traded his rights for center Vlade Divac, who flirted with retiring before he agreed to report to Charlotte.

Which player broke the NBA career triple-double record in May 2021?

Russell Westbrook's record-breaking 182nd triple-double came in a 125–124 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

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

February: in 2020 the game adopted an untimed fourth quarter, played to a target score set 24 points ahead in honour of Kobe Bryant.

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

Giannis Antetokounmpo and his older brother Thanasis once sold sunglasses on the streets of Athens to help their immigrant family pay the bills.

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

Visibly ill, Michael Jordan scored 38 points against the Utah Jazz, including a late go-ahead three set up by Scottie Pippen.

Dirk Nowitzki, who spent his entire 21-year career with one Texas franchise, was born in which country?

Germany: Dirk Nowitzki scored 32 points against Puerto Rico in the 2008 qualifier that sent the national team to the Beijing Olympics.

Whose corner three with seconds left tied Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals and forced overtime?

Ray Allen's shot came off Chris Bosh's offensive rebound, and his team won in overtime to force a Game 7.

What was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's signature unstoppable shot called?

The Skyhook: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fittingly used one to break Wilt Chamberlain's career scoring record in 1984.

Which franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and became the Thunder?

The Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, but a settlement left the Sonics name behind in Seattle.

Which Chinese center did the Houston Rockets take first overall in the 2002 NBA draft?

Yao Ming retired in 2011 after a run of foot injuries, then went back to college and earned an economics degree in 2018.

Which Pacers forward, hit by a thrown drink, charged into the stands during the 2004 'Malice at the Palace' brawl?

Ron Artest was suspended for 86 games, far longer than any other player in the brawl.

Whose Game 7 go-ahead three decided the 2016 NBA Finals?

Kyrie Irving hit it with 53 seconds left, and the Warriors went the last 4:39 without a basket.

Which all-time NBA coaching record did Gregg Popovich set in 2022?

Most career wins: Gregg Popovich passed the 1,335 of Don Nelson, whom he had once served as a Golden State assistant, in March 2022.

Which franchise won the 2021 NBA title, its first championship since 1971?

Milwaukee Bucks lost the first two games of the Finals to Phoenix, then won the next four.

Which guard won three consecutive NBA Slam Dunk Contests from 2023 to 2025?

Mac McClung went undrafted in 2021 and had played only a handful of NBA games when he began that three-peat.

Luka Doncic was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2018 but immediately traded to which team?

The Dallas Mavericks gave the Hawks the rights to Trae Young plus a protected future first-round pick, then stunned the league by trading Dončić away midway through the 2024–25 season.

Who coached Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the 2008 NBA title?

Doc Rivers's 2008 champions went 66–16, a year after the same franchise, also coached by him, finished 24–58.

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

Toni Kukoč was drafted in 1990 but kept playing in Europe for three more seasons before finally making his NBA debut in 1993.

Who went first overall in the 1984 NBA Draft, the draft that produced Michael Jordan?

Hakeem Olajuwon went first after Houston won a coin flip; Portland then took Sam Bowie, leaving Michael Jordan to go third.

Pat Riley coached which team to four NBA championships in the 1980s?

Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley trademarked 'three-peat' as the team chased a third straight title, but the 1989 Lakers fell short.

Wilt Chamberlain grabbed a record 55 rebounds in 1960 against which center?

Bill Russell's team still won that night, 132–129, despite Chamberlain's 55 rebounds and 34 points.

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

The Bad Boys won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990 before Michael Jordan's team finally got past them in 1991.

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

Wake Forest kept Tim Duncan all four years because he had promised his dying mother he would graduate, and he earned a psychology degree in 1997.

Shaquille O'Neal won his fourth championship in 2006 alongside which young guard, the Finals MVP?

Dwyane Wade was Finals MVP as his team came back from losing the first two games of the series.

Which 1996 film teamed Michael Jordan with the Looney Tunes in a basketball game against aliens?

Space Jam grossed about $250 million worldwide and stood as the highest-grossing basketball film for more than 25 years.

Which animal became the Phoenix Suns' mascot after a costumed singing-telegram messenger charmed the crowd?

The Gorilla began as a telegram delivery: arena security asked the messenger to perform under the basket during a timeout, and he kept returning until the team hired him.

At which Florida resort did the NBA finish its 2019–20 season inside a quarantined 'bubble'?

Walt Disney World hosted 22 of the league's 30 teams, and players wore the resort's MagicBands as room keys and health check-in passes.

Which forward, nicknamed 'the Hick from French Lick', won three straight NBA MVP awards from 1984 to 1986?

Larry Bird also won the NBA's first Three-Point Shootout in 1986, after walking into the locker room and asking who would finish second.

The Philadelphia 76ers take their name from which historic document signed in their home city?

Declaration of Independence it is: when the Syracuse Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, a naming contest picked '76ers' to mark the signing of 1776.

Which rebounding specialist, known as 'the Worm', led the NBA in rebounds per game for seven straight seasons?

Dennis Rodman owed the nickname to his mother, who coined it for the way he wiggled while playing pinball.

Which basketball play sees a teammate catch a lobbed pass in mid-air and dunk it before landing?

Alley-oop comes from 'allez hop!', the French cry of a circus acrobat about to leap.

Which Serbian center, only the 41st pick of the 2014 draft, led the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA title?

Nikola Jokić's selection was announced on a ticker beneath a Taco Bell commercial, and he became the lowest-drafted player ever named MVP.

In which Spanish city did the 1992 US Olympic 'Dream Team' of NBA stars win its gold medal?

Barcelona hosted the first US Olympic team to include active NBA players, and it beat its opponents by an average of about 44 points.

Which former tech chief executive bought the NBA's Clippers for a reported $2 billion in 2014?

Steve Ballmer had just stepped down after 14 years running Microsoft, and he bought the team following the previous owner's lifetime ban.

Which high-flying Philadelphia 76ers forward of the late 1970s and 1980s was known to fans as 'Dr. J'?

Julius Erving got the name from a school friend he called 'the professor', who called him 'the doctor' in return.

Which small forward won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls as Michael Jordan's chief sidekick?

Scottie Pippen twice won an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, in 1992 and again in 1996.

Which French center led the NBA in blocks as a rookie and was the unanimous 2024 Rookie of the Year?

Victor Wembanyama was also the first rookie ever named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team.

Luka Dončić, the NBA's Rookie of the Year for 2018–19, was born in the capital city of which country?

Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, is where Luka Dončić was born, the son of a basketball coach and former player.

Which violation is called when an NBA defender touches a shot already on its downward flight to the basket?

Goaltending costs the defence dearly: the shooting team is awarded the points as if the shot had gone in.

Which forward, nicknamed 'the Round Mound of Rebound', was named the 1993 NBA MVP with the Phoenix Suns?

Charles Barkley won it in his first season after a trade from Philadelphia, and he led his new team to the NBA Finals.

Which 2020 documentary series followed Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls through their 1997–98 season?

The Last Dance became ESPN's most-watched documentary, arriving in the first weeks of the 2020 lockdowns when there was no live sport to watch.

Which NBA franchise began life in Vancouver in 1995 before relocating to the American South in 2001?

The Memphis Grizzlies kept a nickname chosen for British Columbia, where the team spent its first six seasons.

Which forward won back-to-back NBA Finals MVP awards with Golden State in 2017 and 2018?

Kevin Durant had joined the team only in 2016, a controversial move to a side that had just won 73 regular-season games.

Manu Ginóbili, a four-time NBA champion, led which country to Olympic basketball gold in 2004?

Argentina's win made Ginóbili only the second player to collect a EuroLeague title, an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal.

Which NBA franchise left New Jersey in 2012 to play at the newly built Barclays Center?

The Brooklyn Nets became the borough's first major sports franchise since baseball's Dodgers left in 1957.

Which guard won Sixth Man of the Year with Oklahoma City before being named the 2018 NBA MVP in Houston?

James Harden came off the bench for a team that reached the 2012 Finals, then led the league in scoring three times as a starter.

Which Cameroon-born center, nicknamed 'the Process', was the first international player to win an NBA scoring title?

Joel Embiid only took up basketball at 15, having planned to play professional volleyball in Europe.

Which center, nicknamed 'the Admiral', had to complete two years of US Navy service before his NBA debut?

David Robinson never rose above lieutenant (junior grade), and he was drafted first overall two years before he could play a game.

Which point guard retired in 2003 holding the NBA career records for both assists and steals?

John Stockton reached the playoffs in every one of his 19 seasons, all of them spent with a single franchise.

Which city's university campus has been home to the NBA's main Summer League since 2004?

Las Vegas began with just six teams playing 13 games at UNLV's arena, and by 2019 the event had grown to 32 teams.

Which Canadian point guard won back-to-back NBA MVP awards with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and 2006?

Steve Nash was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Welsh mother and an English father.

Which Congolese-born center, four times Defensive Player of the Year, wagged a finger at opponents after blocks?

Dikembe Mutombo devised the gesture in 1992 to make himself more marketable, and the NBA later banned it.

Which rival league, absorbed by the NBA in 1976, popularised the three-point shot and a red, white and blue ball?

American Basketball Association clubs lived on: four of its teams joined the NBA in the merger, and the older league adopted the long-range shot in 1979.

Which NBA round, made permanent in 2022, has seeds seven to ten in each conference fight for two postseason spots?

Play-in tournament rules give the seventh- and eighth-placed teams a double-chance game, so a single loss does not end their season.

Which Atlanta Hawks guard, under 5-foot-8, won the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest by beating his own teammate?

Spud Webb beat defending champion Dominique Wilkins with two perfect scores in the final round, having first dunked when he stood just 5-foot-3.

Which guard nicknamed 'Half Man, Half Amazing' won the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Vince Carter's winning dunks included a 360-degree windmill and one that left him hanging from the rim by his elbow.

Whose four-bounce buzzer-beater in Game 7 knocked the Philadelphia 76ers out of the 2019 NBA playoffs?

Kawhi Leonard's shot was the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history, and the normally stoic forward let out a scream as teammates swarmed him.

Which point guard, drafted first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls, was named the NBA's MVP in 2011?

Derrick Rose was the first Bulls player to win the award since Michael Jordan, and he did it in only his third season.

Which Indiana Pacers sharpshooter scored eight points in 8.9 seconds at Madison Square Garden in the 1995 playoffs?

Reggie Miller's eight unanswered points turned a late deficit into a 107–105 win in Game 1 of the series.

Which coach of the 73-win 2015–16 Golden State Warriors had earlier won five NBA titles as a player?

Steve Kerr won his rings with two different franchises and retired with the highest career three-point percentage in NBA history.

Which NBA commissioner banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life in 2014 over racist remarks?

Adam Silver had been in the job for less than three months when the recordings surfaced, and he announced the ban four days later.

Which NBA coach became famous for lighting a victory cigar on the bench when a game seemed safely won?

Red Auerbach lit up often: his teams won eight consecutive NBA championships between 1959 and 1966.

Which Georgetown center was the top prize when the NBA held its first draft lottery in 1985?

Patrick Ewing went to the team whose sealed envelope was drawn first from a spinning hopper, and he became an eleven-time All-Star.

Which Portland guard knocked Oklahoma City out of the 2019 playoffs with a 37-foot buzzer-beating three-pointer?

Damian Lillard finished that night with a playoff career-high 50 points, five years after another of his buzzer-beaters had won a series.

Which point guard, nicknamed 'the Glove', was the first at his position named NBA Defensive Player of the Year?

Gary Payton's nickname took hold during the 1993 Western Conference Finals against Phoenix, a tribute to his smothering defence.

Which undrafted Harvard graduate became an overnight sensation at Madison Square Garden during the 2011–12 season?

Jeremy Lin's sudden winning run sparked a craze dubbed 'Linsanity', years after he had left high school without a single athletic scholarship offer.

Which forward played on seven NBA championship teams with the Rockets, Lakers and Spurs during his 16-year career?

Robert Horry earned the nickname 'Big Shot Rob', a reputation he began building in the 1995 playoffs with decisive late shots in the conference finals and the NBA Finals.

Which Houston Rockets star scored 13 points in the final 35 seconds to steal a comeback win in December 2004?

Tracy McGrady capped the burst with a last-second three-pointer, in what is remembered as one of the signature performances of his career.

Which bespectacled center was so dominant that the NBA widened the foul lane from six to twelve feet in 1951?

George Mikan wore thick glasses for his nearsightedness, and the wider lane became known as 'the Mikan Rule'.

Who became the first African American to play in an NBA game, for the Washington Capitols in October 1950?

Earl Lloyd owed the distinction to the schedule: he took the court one day before Chuck Cooper and four days before Nat Clifton.

Which 7-foot-7 Romanian center, the NBA's Most Improved Player for 1995–96, played the title role in My Giant?

Gheorghe Mureșan is one of the two tallest players in NBA history, and he acted opposite Billy Crystal in the 1998 comedy.

Whose two backboard-shattering dunks in 1979 pushed the NBA to adopt breakaway rims?

Darryl Dawkins gave his dunks elaborate names, and Stevie Wonder gave him one of his own: Chocolate Thunder.

Which Portland forward was whistled for a record 41 technical fouls during the 2000–01 NBA season?

Rasheed Wallace collected them across 80 regular-season and playoff games, a rate of roughly one technical every other night.

Which NBA referee went to federal prison after admitting he had bet on games he officiated himself?

Tim Donaghy resigned in 2007 during an FBI investigation and was sentenced to 15 months.