Los Angeles Lakers
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8correct to beat the crowd
This Lakers trivia quiz runs through the whole franchise in 98 free questions with answers: why a Los Angeles team is named after lakes, George Mikan and the Minneapolis titles, the move west in 1960, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West's decade of losing to Boston, Wilt and the 33-game streak, Kareem's arrival, Jerry Buss and Showtime, Magic and Riley and Worthy, the Shaq-and-Kobe three-peat under Phil Jackson, the Gasol titles, Kobe's 81 and his 60-point goodbye, LeBron and the bubble, the Doncic trade, the Buss family sale, and the man who called 3,338 straight games. It starts with questions any fan can get and works up to numbers, dates and trade details for people who can name every retired jersey on the wall. It works for a game-night crowd, a family of Lakers fans, or a solo test before tip-off. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which big man did the Minneapolis Lakers select first in a 1947 dispersal draft, launching the first NBA dynasty?
George Mikan
The Lakers won the NBL title in his first season and four of the first five NBA championships after the 1949 merger.
Q 02In what year did the Lakers move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, the NBA's first West Coast team?
1960
Owner Bob Short made the move; the team kept the name even though Los Angeles is somewhat short of lakes.
Q 03Which Laker scored a then-record 71 points against the Knicks in November 1960?
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor scored 71 points and grabbed 25 rebounds against the Knicks on November 15, 1960; his number 22 hangs in the rafters.
Q 04Whose silhouette is generally understood to appear on the NBA's official logo?
Jerry West
Designer Alan Siegel based the 1969 NBA logo on a photo of Jerry West, who played all 14 of his seasons with the Lakers and later ran their front office.
Q 05What unique 1969 distinction does Jerry West hold?
Only Finals MVP from the losing team
Jerry West is the only Finals MVP from the losing team: the Lakers fell to Boston in seven games in 1969, one of six Finals losses to the Celtics that decade.
Q 06The Lakers acquired Wilt Chamberlain in July 1968 from which team?
Philadelphia 76ers
Darrell Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers went the other way; Wilt led the league in rebounding in the 1972 title season.
Q 07Kareem Abdul-Jabbar arrived in Los Angeles in 1975 in a trade with which team?
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley to the Lakers in June 1975 for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman.
Q 08How many regular-season MVP awards did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win, an NBA record?
Six
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six MVP awards (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1980), one more than Bill Russell or Michael Jordan.
Q 09How much did Jerry Buss pay Jack Kent Cooke for the Lakers, Kings and arena?
$67.5 million
Jerry Buss paid $67.5 million in 1979 for the Lakers, the Kings and their arena; the USC chemistry PhD won ten championships as owner and turned games into entertainment.
Q 10The Lakers took Magic Johnson first overall in the 1979 draft out of which college?
Michigan State
Magic Johnson led Michigan State past Larry Bird's Indiana State in the 1979 NCAA final before the Lakers took him first overall.
Q 11In Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, rookie Magic Johnson filled in for the injured Kareem at which position?
Center
Magic Johnson started at center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and posted 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, winning Finals MVP as a rookie.
Q 12What nickname did the fast-breaking Lakers of the 1980s earn?
Showtime
Showtime was the fast-break era of Magic Johnson's Lakers, who made the Finals every year from 1982 to 1985 and again from 1987 to 1989.
Q 13How many championships did the Lakers win in the 1980s?
Five
1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988; the 1988 title was the last until 2000.
Q 21Who was named Finals MVP in all three of the Lakers' 2000-2002 championships?
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal, also the 2000 regular-season MVP, won all three Finals MVPs; his feud with Kobe Bryant ended with his trade to Miami in 2004.
Q 22Against which team did Kobe Bryant score 81 points on January 22, 2006?
Toronto Raptors
Kobe Bryant's 81 against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center is the second-highest single-game total in NBA history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 in 1962.
Q 23How many points did Kobe Bryant score in his final NBA game, against Utah on April 13, 2016?
60
Kobe Bryant scored 60 points on 50 shots against Utah in his farewell game; two years later he won an Oscar for the animated short Dear Basketball.
Q 14The Lakers' first Finals win over the Celtics, in 1985, followed how many straight series losses to them?
Eight
The Lakers had lost eight straight Finals to Boston (1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1984) before the 38-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won Finals MVP in 1985.
Q 15Which Laker won the NBA's regular-season MVP award in 2008?
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant won his only regular-season MVP in 2008, averaging 28.3 points as the Lakers went 57-25 and reached the Finals.
Q 16Which first-overall pick from North Carolina won Finals MVP with a Game 7 triple-double in 1988?
James Worthy
James Worthy posted 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 7 against Detroit in 1988; his number 42 hangs in the rafters.
Q 17On what date did Magic Johnson announce he was HIV-positive and retiring?
November 7, 1991
Magic Johnson announced on November 7, 1991 that he had tested HIV-positive and was retiring; he returned to win the 1992 All-Star Game MVP.
Q 18The Lakers acquired 17-year-old Kobe Bryant in 1996 by trading which player to the team that drafted him?
Vlade Divac
Vlade Divac, the Lakers' starting center for most of the 1990s, was sent away for the draft rights to 17-year-old Kobe Bryant in July 1996.
Q 19Which team drafted Kobe Bryant, 13th overall, before trading him to Los Angeles?
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets picked Kobe Bryant 13th in 1996 and traded his rights to the Lakers; he spent all 20 seasons in purple and gold, with numbers 8 and 24 both retired.
Q 20Which coach, fresh from six titles in Chicago, led the Lakers to a three-peat from 2000 to 2002?
Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson brought Tex Winter's triangle offence from Chicago and won five Lakers titles in two stints: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010.
Q 24The trade for which Spanish big man sent the Lakers to the 2008 Finals and 2009–10 titles?
Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol arrived from Memphis in February 2008 and anchored three straight Finals runs; his number 16 was retired in 2023 beside Kobe Bryant's.
Q 25The Lakers' 2020 championship was won inside a pandemic "bubble" at which location?
Walt Disney World, Florida
The 2020 playoffs were played at Walt Disney World in Florida; the Lakers beat Miami 4-2 with no fans present and LeBron James won Finals MVP with a third franchise.
Q 26The 2020 title was the Lakers' 17th, tying them at the time with which franchise?
Boston Celtics
Boston moved back ahead with its 18th in 2024; the two clubs own 35 of the league's championships between them.
Q 27In February 2025 the Lakers made a stunning trade with Dallas that brought in which star?
Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic came from Dallas for Anthony Davis in early February 2025, in a swap widely called one of the most shocking trades in American sports history.
Q 28Which former player was hired as Lakers head coach in June 2024?
JJ Redick
JJ Redick, the former sharpshooter turned podcaster, was hired in June 2024 to replace the fired Darvin Ham as Lakers head coach.
Q 29In June 2025 the Buss family agreed to sell majority control of the Lakers to which Dodgers owner?
Mark Walter
Mark Walter, controlling owner of the Dodgers, agreed to buy majority control at a roughly $10 billion valuation, then the largest ever for a sports franchise.
Q 30What milestone did Jeanie Buss reach when the Lakers won in 2020?
First female controlling owner to win an NBA title
Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to win an NBA title; she had taken control after her father Jerry died in 2013.