Memphis Grizzlies Trivia
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100 free Memphis Grizzlies trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Memphis Grizzlies trivia quiz covers both halves of the franchise: the Vancouver expansion team that nearly became the Mounties, Bryant 'Big Country' Reeves and the 23-game losing streak, Steve Francis's refusal, the 2001 move to Memphis and the Pyramid, Pau Gasol and Jerry West, the 2011 upset of San Antonio, the Grit and Grind years of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen, and the Ja Morant era. Expect easy questions on the arena, the mascot and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the Otis Thorpe trade, the 140–79 loss and the documentaries about the Vancouver years. Uniforms, Growl Towels and 'Whoop That Trick' 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 Grizz watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the name of the Grizzlies' home arena in Memphis, opened in 2004?
FedExForum
FedExForum opened in downtown Memphis in September 2004 and seats roughly 18,000 for basketball; it also hosts the University of Memphis Tigers.
Q 02Which name was first proposed for the Vancouver NBA franchise before objections forced a change?
Mounties
The club was first announced as the Vancouver Mounties, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police objected to the use of its nickname, so the owners switched to Grizzlies before the 1995 debut.
Q 03Which centre, nicknamed 'Big Country', was the Grizzlies' first-ever draft pick in 1995?
Bryant Reeves
Bryant Reeves, the Oklahoma State centre, went sixth overall in 1995 as Vancouver's first draft pick and spent his entire six-season NBA career with the Grizzlies.
Q 04How many straight games did the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies lose, then an NBA record?
23
They had won their first two games ever, then lost 19 in a row before the later 23-game skid.
Q 05Which 1999 draftee refused to play in Vancouver and was traded to Houston in an 11-player deal?
Steve Francis
Steve Francis, picked by Vancouver in 1999, refused to report and was sent to Houston in an 11-player, three-team trade that August; he shared Rookie of the Year honours in 2000.
Q 06What were the Vancouver Grizzlies' original team colours?
Turquoise, bronze and red
Vancouver's original colours were turquoise, bronze and red with black trim; Memphis revived the turquoise throwback uniform for the franchise's 25th-anniversary season in 2019–20.
Q 07Which Chicago businessman bought the Grizzlies for $160 million and moved them to Memphis?
Michael Heisley
Michael Heisley, a Chicago industrialist, bought the Grizzlies in 2000 for about $160 million after initially pledging to keep them in Vancouver; he chose Memphis over Anaheim and Louisville.
Q 08In which year did the Grizzlies relocate from Vancouver to Memphis?
2001
The Grizzlies relocated in 2001 after six losing seasons in Vancouver, playing their first Memphis game that November; the move made Memphis the easternmost city in the Western Conference.
Q 09Why did the franchise keep 'Grizzlies' after relocating to Tennessee?
Locals backed it, partly because a 1970s WFL club had used it
The original Memphis Grizzlies played in the World Football League in 1974–75.
Q 10Where did the Grizzlies play their first three seasons in Memphis?
The Pyramid
The Pyramid on the Mississippi riverfront later became a Bass Pro Shops megastore.
Q 11Who won Rookie of the Year in the Grizzlies' first season in Memphis?
Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol, whose draft rights Memphis acquired from Atlanta, averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in his debut season and was named Rookie of the Year.
Q 12Which Hall of Fame Laker became the Grizzlies' GM in 2002 and won Executive of the Year two years later?
Jerry West
Jerry West, the Lakers legend, ran the Grizzlies' front office from 2002 to 2007 and was voted 2004 Executive of the Year after the franchise's first playoff season.
Q 13The Grizzlies' 2003 first-round pick, worth Anthony, Bosh or Wade, had been traded in 1997 for which player?
Otis Thorpe
Q 21What nickname described the Grizzlies' defence-first, paint-heavy style of the 2010s?
Grit and Grind
'Grit and Grind' was coined by a Grizzlies guard in a February 2011 post-game interview after a win over Oklahoma City, and it became the identity of the bruising, defence-first teams of the decade.
Q 22Which top seed did the eighth-seed Grizzlies upset in six games in 2011?
San Antonio Spurs
The Grizzlies beat the 61-win San Antonio Spurs in six games in 2011, only the second time an eighth seed had won a best-of-seven series against a top seed.
Q 23Which young technology billionaire bought the Grizzlies for about $350 million in 2012?
Robert Pera
Thorpe played only 47 games for Vancouver; Detroit used the pick on Darko Miličić.
Q 14Who won 2004 Coach of the Year after leading the Grizzlies to their first playoff berth and 50 wins?
Hubie Brown
Hubie Brown, hired in November 2002 at age 69, led the 2003–04 Grizzlies to the first winning record and playoff berth in franchise history and was voted Coach of the Year.
Q 15How many straight playoff games did the Grizzlies lose across their first three postseasons?
12
Memphis lost all 12 games of its first three playoff series, swept in 2004, 2005 and 2006, before finally winning a postseason game in 2011.
Q 16Which player did the Grizzlies get from Houston in the 2006 trade that sent Shane Battier away?
Rudy Gay
Gay was flipped to Toronto in a 2013 three-team deal that brought Tayshaun Prince.
Q 17With which pick did the Grizzlies select Mike Conley Jr. in the 2007 draft?
Fourth
They had the best lottery odds after a 22–60 season but dropped to fourth.
Q 18The 2008 Pau Gasol trade gave the Grizzlies the draft rights to which future All-Star?
His younger brother Marc
Marc became Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and a three-time All-Star in Memphis.
Q 19Which centre did the Grizzlies draft right after Blake Griffin in 2009, later trading him for Shane Battier?
Hasheem Thabeet
Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 Connecticut centre picked right behind Griffin in 2009, was demoted to the D-League in his rookie year and sent to Houston for Shane Battier in February 2011.
Q 20Which superstar guard signed with the Grizzlies in 2009 but left after three games for 'personal problems'?
Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson signed a one-year deal in September 2009, played three road games off the bench, left citing personal reasons and was waived that November.
Robert Pera, then 34, bought the Grizzlies in late 2012 for about $350 million and brought ESPN analytics writer John Hollinger into the front office as vice-president of basketball operations.
Q 24What was the Grizzlies' record in 2012–13, their first conference finals season?
56–26
Memphis went 56–26 in 2012–13, a franchise best at the time, then won two playoff rounds to reach its first Western Conference finals, where it was swept in four games.
Q 25Zach Randolph was suspended for Game 7 of the 2014 first round for punching which Thunder centre?
Steven Adams
Steven Adams took the punch in Game 6 of the 2014 first round against Oklahoma City, earning the suspension for Game 7; Games 2 to 5 of that series all went to overtime, an NBA record.
Q 26Which two departures in the summer of 2017 closed the door on the franchise's defence-first era?
Zach Randolph and Tony Allen
Randolph signed with Sacramento and Allen with New Orleans; both later had numbers retired.
Q 27What was the final score of the Grizzlies' blowout loss at Charlotte on 22 March 2018?
140–79
Charlotte's 140–79 win on 22 March 2018 handed the Grizzlies a 61-point loss, the widest margin of defeat in franchise history to that point, during a 22–60 season.
Q 28To which team was the Grizzlies' Defensive Player of the Year centre traded in February 2019?
Toronto Raptors
He won a title with Toronto that June; Mike Conley was dealt to Utah that summer.
Q 29Where in the 2019 draft did the Grizzlies select Ja Morant?
2nd
Ja Morant went 2nd overall in 2019, behind Zion Williamson, and won Rookie of the Year with 99 of 100 first-place votes.
Q 30Who was named the Grizzlies' head coach in June 2019?
Taylor Jenkins
Taylor Jenkins, a Milwaukee assistant under Mike Budenholzer, was hired in June 2019 at age 34 and coached the Grizzlies until his dismissal in March 2025.