70s NBA
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50 free 70s NBA trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The 1970s were the NBA's most unpredictable decade. Eight different franchises won the championship in ten seasons, a rival league came and went, teams packed up and changed cities, and the game itself picked up rules and records that still shape it today. This quiz covers the whole stretch from 1970 to 1979: the Finals and the players who decided them, the scoring feats and award winners, the coaches, the trades and drafts, the merger with the ABA, and the stories away from the court that made headlines. It is written for fans who lived through the era, for younger ones who know it from highlight reels, and for quiz hosts who need accurate questions with answers. Every question comes with a short explanation, so a miss still leaves you with a good story.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which injured Knicks center limped onto the court before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals?
Willis Reed
Willis Reed had torn a thigh muscle in Game 5, yet he hit the Knicks' first two baskets. Walt Frazier took over from there with 36 points and 19 assists.
Q 02Under which name did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play until 1971, the year he won his first NBA championship?
Lew Alcindor
Lew Alcindor had converted to Islam in 1968 but kept his new name private for three years, going public with it in 1971.
Q 03Which team, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, ended the Lakers' record 33-game winning streak in January 1972?
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks were the defending champions and stopped the run on January 9, 1972. The Lakers still finished 69–13 and took the title.
Q 04Which Michigan State guard did the Lakers select first overall in the 1979 NBA draft after winning a coin flip?
Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson was available to the Lakers only because they held the Jazz's first-round pick from an earlier trade. The Bulls lost the coin flip and picked second.
Q 05Which rule change, long a feature of the rival ABA, did the NBA adopt on a one-year trial for 1979–80?
The three-point line
The three-point line was dismissed by many as a gimmick when it arrived. Chris Ford of the Celtics made the first one on October 12, 1979.
Q 06Which star did the cash-strapped Nets sell to the Philadelphia 76ers for $3 million just before the 1976–77 season?
Julius Erving
Julius Erving was sold because the Nets owed the Knicks $4.8 million for moving into their territory. Dr. J reached the Finals in his first Philadelphia season.
Q 07Which UCLA-trained center, a devoted Grateful Dead fan, was Finals MVP in 1977 and NBA MVP the following season?
Bill Walton
Bill Walton attended more than 850 Grateful Dead concerts in his lifetime. He had been the first pick of the 1974 draft after winning two NCAA titles.
Q 08Which Jazz guard scored 68 points against the Knicks in February 1977, then a record for an NBA guard?
Pete Maravich
Pete Maravich led the whole NBA in scoring that season, averaging 31.1 points a game. The signed ball from his 68-point night later sold for $131,450.
Q 09Which Knicks forward on the 1970 and 1973 title teams later served 18 years as a U.S. senator?
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley represented New Jersey in the Senate from 1979 to 1997. He had delayed his NBA career for two years to study at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
Q 10Which 76ers forward of the late 1970s, nicknamed Jellybean, was the father of a future five-time NBA champion?
Joe Bryant
Joe Bryant spent four seasons with his hometown 76ers and later played for several teams in Italy, where his son Kobe spent much of his childhood.
Q 11Which city celebrated its first NBA title in 1977 after its team lost the opening two Finals games to Philadelphia?
Portland
Portland was gripped by what locals called Blazermania as the Trail Blazers won four straight. No team had recovered from 0–2 in the Finals that way before.
Q 12Which college forward did the Celtics draft sixth overall in 1978, then wait a full year for him to sign?
Larry Bird
Larry Bird chose to play one more college season first. When he arrived for 1979–80, the Celtics won 32 more games than the year before.
Q 13Which star sank a 60-foot shot at the buzzer in Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals, only to lose in overtime?
Jerry West
Q 21Which forward, known for shooting free throws underhanded, was named MVP of the 1975 NBA Finals?
Rick Barry
Rick Barry made 90 percent of his NBA free throws with the unorthodox technique, the best mark of any player when he retired in 1980.
Q 22Which Celtics star retired in 1978 after 16 seasons, having been named MVP of the 1974 NBA Finals?
John Havlicek
John Havlicek was a swingman so famous for stamina that rivals said just keeping up with him was a challenge. He played in eight Finals and won them all.
Q 23Which Celtics legend spent 1973 to 1977 as head coach and general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics?
Bill Russell
Jerry West launched it from beyond midcourt, but it counted for only two points and merely tied the game at 102. The Knicks then won 111–108.
Q 14Which center was named MVP of the 1972 NBA Finals after playing the clinching game with a badly injured hand?
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain had fallen on his right hand earlier in the series and was listed as doubtful for the clincher. He played anyway and was admired for doing so.
Q 15Which future coach of eleven NBA champions won a 1973 title as a long-armed reserve forward for the Knicks?
Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson had missed the Knicks' 1970 title season after spinal fusion surgery. He spent it putting together a photo diary of the championship run.
Q 16Which future Hall of Fame coach was a reserve guard on the Lakers team that won the 1972 NBA title?
Pat Riley
Pat Riley came off the bench for that team. A decade later he was coaching the Lakers, and he led them to four championships in the 1980s.
Q 17Which Rockets forward suffered life-threatening injuries from a punch in a December 1977 game against the Lakers?
Rudy Tomjanovich
Rudy Tomjanovich was running in to stop a fight when Kermit Washington turned and hit him. He recovered to play again and later coached Houston to two titles.
Q 18Which city was the first home of the Jazz, who joined the NBA in 1974 and left for Utah in 1979?
New Orleans
New Orleans gave the team its name, a tribute to the city as the home of jazz music. The name survived the move to Salt Lake City.
Q 19Which team, coached by Al Attles, stunned the heavily favored Washington Bullets with a sweep in the 1975 NBA Finals?
Warriors
The Warriors had won only 48 games that season. It was also the first major American pro final with two Black head coaches, Attles and K.C. Jones.
Q 20Which sportswear brand gave Knicks guard Walt Frazier his own suede signature sneaker, the Clyde, in 1973?
Puma
Puma signed him after Frazier set his terms, among them his signature on every shoe and a new colour for every game he played.
Bill Russell took the SuperSonics to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. His team-first approach never quite fitted the roster, and he left with a losing record.
Q 24Which Spurs guard nicknamed the Iceman scored 63 points on the last day of 1977–78 to win the scoring title?
George Gervin
George Gervin scored 33 of them in the second quarter, then an NBA record. A Denver rival had scored 73 hours earlier, and the title was settled by 0.07 of a point.
Q 25Which Nuggets star nicknamed Skywalker scored 73 points against the Pistons on the last day of the 1977–78 season?
David Thompson
David Thompson was chasing the scoring title that afternoon. He still lost it by less than a tenth of a point when his San Antonio rival answered later the same day.
Q 26Which team joined the NBA in the 1976 merger with the ABA, alongside the Nuggets, Nets and Spurs?
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers were one of four survivors the NBA accepted from the ABA's last six teams. The other two clubs folded, and their players went into a dispersal draft.
Q 27Which team lost the triple-overtime Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals at Boston Garden, 128–126?
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns had to shove fans away from their huddle before a buzzer-beater forced the third overtime. The game is sometimes called the greatest ever played.
Q 28Which 1970 expansion team moved to San Diego in 1978 and took the name Clippers?
Buffalo Braves
The Buffalo Braves left partly because of arena conflicts with a local college team. The new name referred to the sailing ships seen in San Diego Bay.
Q 29Which 76ers center nicknamed Chocolate Thunder shattered two glass backboards with dunks in 1979?
Darryl Dawkins
Darryl Dawkins got the nickname from Stevie Wonder, a regular at 76ers games. His broken backboards led the NBA to adopt breakaway rims.
Q 30Which center, who turned professional straight from high school in 1974, was named NBA MVP for 1978–79?
Moses Malone
Moses Malone had added 15 pounds before that season and led the NBA in rebounding. He went on to win the award twice more.