Los Angeles Clippers Trivia
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56 free Los Angeles Clippers trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Los Angeles Clippers trivia quiz covers the whole strange saga: Bob McAdoo's Buffalo Braves losing their arena dates to a college team, the San Diego years with World B. Free and Bill Walton, Donald Sterling's unauthorised move to Los Angeles, the 12–70 'Clipper Triangle' season, Larry Brown, Elton Brand and Sam Cassell, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Lob City, the Sterling tape and Steve Ballmer's $2 billion purchase, Kawhi and Paul George, and the move to the Intuit Dome. Expect easy questions on the arena, the nickname and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the Celtics ownership swap, the Anaheim deal Sterling turned down and the riot-relocated 1992 playoff game. Logos and City uniforms get their turn too. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so when you miss one you can trust the explanation. Play it solo or run it as a round at your next watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 56 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the name of the Clippers' Inglewood arena, opened for the 2024–25 season?
Intuit Dome
Intuit Dome, privately funded by Steve Ballmer next to SoFi Stadium, opened in August 2024; Intuit paid about $500 million for 23 years of naming rights.
Q 02Which Hall of Fame centre led the NBA in scoring three straight seasons and won MVP for Buffalo in 1975?
Bob McAdoo
Bob McAdoo led the league in scoring in 1974, 1975 and 1976 and was MVP in 1975, averaging 34.5 points; the Braves made the playoffs in each of those seasons.
Q 03Which college team's arena lease priority made it hard for the Braves to schedule home games in Buffalo?
Canisius Golden Griffins
Canisius College's Golden Griffins held date priority at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium under their lease, forcing the Braves to play some home games in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.
Q 04In 1978 Braves owner John Y. Brown swapped franchises with which team's owner, Irv Levin?
Boston Celtics
John Y. Brown traded the Braves for Irv Levin's Boston Celtics in 1978; Levin, who lived in Southern California, wanted a franchise nearer home and moved the Braves west.
Q 05Which guard finished second in NBA scoring in 1978–79, the Clippers' first season?
World B. Free
World B. Free averaged 28.8 points in 1978–79, behind only George Gervin's 29.6, and was runner-up again at 30.2 the next season.
Q 06Which San Diego native and former MVP signed with the Clippers in 1979 but was sidelined by foot injuries?
Bill Walton
Bill Walton, the 1978 MVP and a local hero, joined the Clippers in 1979, but foot injuries limited him to 14 games that season and none in the next two.
Q 07For how many million dollars did Donald Sterling buy the Clippers in 1981?
12.5
Donald Sterling, a Los Angeles real-estate lawyer, paid $12.5 million for the Clippers in 1981, buying the club from Irv Levin.
Q 08Sterling was fined a record $10,000 for saying the Clippers would lose enough to draft which player?
Ralph Sampson
Sterling told reporters in 1982 that the Clippers would finish last to get Virginia star Ralph Sampson; the league's $10,000 fine was then its largest ever.
Q 09In which year did Sterling move the Clippers to Los Angeles without league approval?
1984
Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles in 1984 without a league vote; the NBA fined him $25 million and sued, then settled in 1987 for $6 million.
Q 10What was the Clippers' record in 1986–87, then the second-worst in NBA history?
12–70
Sportswriters dubbed the run of injuries to Norm Nixon, Marques Johnson and others the 'Clipper Triangle'.
Q 11Which Hall of Famer served as the Clippers' general manager for 22 years from 1986?
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor, a Hall of Fame forward in his playing days, ran the Clippers' front office from 1986 to 2008 and was named NBA Executive of the Year in 2006.
Q 12Which coach, hired mid-1991-92, gave the Clippers their first winning season in 13 years?
Larry Brown
Larry Brown took over from Mike Schuler in February 1992 and went 23–12, lifting the Clippers to 45–37, their first winning record since 1978–79.
Q 13Where was Game 4 of the Clippers' 1992 first-round series played because of the Los Angeles riots?
Anaheim Convention Center
Q 21The 2011 first-round pick the Clippers sent to Cleveland with Baron Davis became which No. 1 pick?
Kyrie Irving
The unprotected pick the Clippers sent with Baron Davis in February 2011 won the lottery and became Kyrie Irving, the 2011 No. 1 pick; the Clippers got Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
Q 22From which team did the Clippers acquire Chris Paul in December 2011 after a Lakers trade was vetoed?
New Orleans Hornets
The NBA owned the Hornets at the time, and David Stern nixed the Lakers deal.
Q 23Which Clippers centre verbally agreed to join Dallas in 2015, then re-signed with the Clippers?
DeAndre Jordan
Game 4 against Utah was moved to the Anaheim Convention Center during the riots; the Clippers won it to level the series 2–2 but lost Game 5 in Salt Lake City.
Q 14Which star did the Clippers acquire from Atlanta in February 1994 in a trade for Danny Manning?
Dominique Wilkins
Dominique Wilkins came from the Hawks for Danny Manning in February 1994, averaged 29.1 points in 25 games, and left as a free agent that summer.
Q 15At which Orange County arena did the Clippers play some games from 1994 to 1999?
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
The Clippers played a handful of home games each season at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim from 1994 to 1999, where crowds were far larger than at the ageing Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Q 16Which centre did the Clippers take first overall in the 1998 draft?
Michael Olowokandi
Michael Olowokandi, a little-known centre from the University of the Pacific, went first overall in 1998 ahead of Mike Bibby, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce.
Q 17Which power forward did the Clippers acquire from Chicago in 2001 for the rights to Tyson Chandler?
Elton Brand
He became the franchise's all-time rebounding leader with 4,710.
Q 18Which veteran point guard, acquired from Minnesota in 2005, was credited as the key to the Clippers' 2006 playoff run?
Sam Cassell
Sam Cassell, a veteran of two championship teams, arrived from the Timberwolves in 2005 and ran the offence as the Clippers went 47–35 and won their first playoff series since the Buffalo years.
Q 19Which young Clippers guard's 2007 knee injury was so gruesome that local TV declined to air the clip?
Shaun Livingston
Shaun Livingston dislocated his left knee in February 2007, tearing the ACL, PCL and lateral meniscus; he recovered to win three championships with the Warriors in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Q 20Whom did the Clippers select first overall in the 2009 draft?
Blake Griffin
He broke his kneecap in the final preseason game and missed the entire season, then won Rookie of the Year in 2011.
DeAndre Jordan agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with Dallas in July 2015, then changed his mind days later and re-signed with the Clippers after teammates camped at his home to talk him round.
Q 24From how many points down did the Clippers rally to win Game 1 of their 2012 series against Memphis?
27
The Clippers trailed by 27 points in the third quarter of Game 1 in Memphis and came back to win 99–98; they later took Game 7 there, 82–72.
Q 25How many straight games did the Clippers win in December 2012 to set a franchise record and post a 16–0 month?
17
The Clippers won 17 straight, a franchise record, and went 16–0 in December 2012; the streak ended on New Year's Day 2013.
Q 26In which year did the Clippers win their first division title in franchise history?
2013
The Clippers won the Pacific Division in 2013, finishing 56–26, the first division title in the franchise's 43 seasons.
Q 27Which coach did the Clippers acquire from Boston in 2013 for a first-round pick?
Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers came in June 2013 for an unprotected 2015 first-round pick; the league barred the two clubs from further trades with each other for a year.
Q 28By how many points did the Clippers rout the Lakers on 6 March 2014?
48
The 142–94 rout, a 48-point margin, was the heaviest defeat their crosstown rivals had ever suffered; it came in a season when the Clippers set a franchise record with 57 wins.
Q 29Which website released the April 2014 recording of Donald Sterling's racist remarks?
TMZ
TMZ published the recording of Sterling's remarks to V. Stiviano on 25 April 2014; before Game 4 in Oakland the players dumped their warm-ups at centre court and wore shirts inside out.
Q 30How many million dollars was the NBA fine imposed on Donald Sterling along with his lifetime ban in 2014?
2.5
Adam Silver banned Sterling for life on 29 April 2014 and fined him $2.5 million, the maximum the NBA constitution allowed, then moved to force a sale.