This Lakers trivia quiz runs through the whole franchise in 50 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 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Lakers got their name from the nickname of which state, where the franchise began?
Minnesota
The team had been the Detroit Gems before being sold to Minneapolis owners for $15,000 in 1947.
Q 02Which 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 03In 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 04Which Laker scored a then-record 71 points against the Knicks in November 1960?
Elgin Baylor
The 1958 first overall pick also grabbed 25 rebounds that night; his number 22 hangs in the rafters.
Q 05Whose silhouette is generally understood to appear on the NBA's official logo?
Jerry West
"Mr. Clutch" played all 14 of his seasons for the Lakers and later, as general manager, traded for Kobe and signed Shaq.
Q 06"Mr. Clutch" holds a unique 1969 distinction. What is it?
Only Finals MVP from the losing team
The Lakers lost that series to Boston, one of six Finals defeats to the Celtics in the 1960s.
Q 07The Lakers' 1971-72 winning streak, still the longest in major US pro sports, ran to how many games?
33
That team went 69-13, a record that stood until the 1995-96 Bulls, and Wilt Chamberlain was Finals MVP.
Q 08The 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 09Kareem Abdul-Jabbar arrived in Los Angeles in 1975 in a trade with which team?
Milwaukee Bucks
He had already won three MVPs; he finished with a record six and five Lakers titles.
Q 10How many regular-season MVP awards did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win, an NBA record?
Six
His 38,387 points stood as the all-time record until LeBron James passed it in February 2023.
Q 11Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, the Kings and the Forum from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 for how much?
$67.5 million
The former USC chemistry PhD won ten championships as owner and turned games into entertainment, Laker Girls included.
Q 12The Lakers took Magic Johnson first overall in the 1979 draft out of which college?
Michigan State
The 6'9" point guard had just beaten Larry Bird's Indiana State in the NCAA final.
Q 13In Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, rookie Magic Johnson filled in for the injured Kareem at which position?
Center
He put up 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists and remains the only rookie ever named Finals MVP.
Q 21Which team drafted Kobe Bryant, 13th overall, before trading him to Los Angeles?
Charlotte Hornets
He spent all 20 seasons in purple and gold, and the Lakers retired both his numbers, 8 and 24.
Q 22Which coach, fresh from six titles in Chicago, led the Lakers to a three-peat from 2000 to 2002?
Phil Jackson
He brought Tex Winter's triangle offence with him and won five titles in two stints, the most of any Lakers coach.
Q 23Who was named Finals MVP in all three of the Lakers' 2000-2002 championships?
Shaquille O'Neal
He was also the 2000 regular-season MVP; the tension with Kobe ended with his trade to Miami in 2004.
Q 14What nickname did the fast-breaking Lakers of the 1980s earn?
Showtime
They won five titles in nine years, coached mostly by Pat Riley.
Q 15How 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 16The Lakers' first Finals win over the Celtics, in 1985, followed how many straight series losses to them?
Eight
The 38-year-old Kareem was Finals MVP; the two franchises have met in the Finals a record 12 times.
Q 17The "Beat LA!" chant was first aimed at the Lakers by Boston fans urging which team to victory in 1982?
Philadelphia 76ers
The Celtics had just lost the Eastern Conference Finals to Philadelphia and wanted someone, anyone, to beat the Lakers.
Q 18Which first-overall pick from North Carolina won Finals MVP with a Game 7 triple-double in 1988?
James Worthy
"Big Game James" wears number 42 in the rafters.
Q 19On what date did Magic Johnson announce he was HIV-positive and retiring?
November 7, 1991
He still won the 1992 All-Star Game MVP, co-captained the Dream Team, and later coached and ran the Lakers.
Q 20The Lakers acquired 17-year-old Kobe Bryant in 1996 by trading which player to the team that drafted him?
Vlade Divac
The same summer they signed free agent Shaquille O'Neal to a seven-year, $121 million deal.
Q 24Against which team did Kobe Bryant score 81 points on January 22, 2006?
Toronto Raptors
It is the second-highest single-game total in NBA history behind Wilt's 100.
Q 25How many points did Kobe Bryant score in his final NBA game, against Utah on April 13, 2016?
60
Two years later he won an Oscar for the animated short Dear Basketball.
Q 26The trade for which Spanish big man sent the Lakers to the 2008 Finals and 2009–10 titles?
Pau Gasol
His number 16 was retired in 2023 next to Kobe's.
Q 27The Lakers' 2020 championship was won inside a pandemic "bubble" at which location?
Walt Disney World, Florida
They beat the Miami Heat 4-2 with no fans present, and LeBron James won a Finals MVP with a third different franchise.
Q 28The 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 29In February 2025 the Lakers made a stunning trade with Dallas that brought in which star?
Luka Doncic
Anthony Davis went the other way; the swap was called one of the most shocking trades in American sports history.
Q 30Which former player was hired as Lakers head coach in June 2024?
JJ Redick
He replaced Darvin Ham; Frank Vogel had coached the 2020 champions.