Michael Jordan Trivia
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97 free Michael Jordan trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
50 free Michael Jordan trivia questions with answers. Everyone knows Michael Jordan won six championships. Fewer know he scored 16 points in his NBA debut, that his tongue habit came from his father, or that he chose David Thompson to present him at the Hall of Fame. This quiz covers the whole story: cut from varsity at Laney, the shot against Georgetown, the 1984 draft, the Pistons years, the first three-peat, the murder of his father and the Birmingham Barons, 'I'm back', No. 45, the 72-win Bulls, the Flu Game and the Last Shot, the Wizards, and life since as owner, NASCAR partner and billionaire. Questions range from easy (what did the two-word press release say?) to hard (whose name did the MVP trophy carry before his?), with the numbers checked: 63, 69, 30.1, 72-10, 32,292. Every answer has been verified against the Wikipedia article on Jordan, and each question shows its source. Ideal for a sports quiz round, a Bulls watch party or settling the GOAT debate with facts.
30 of 97 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, but in which New York City borough was he born?
Brooklyn
Brooklyn: his parents had moved north so his father could train as a mechanic on the GI Bill, and they took the family back south soon after Michael was born.
Q 02As a sophomore at Laney High School, Jordan was left off the varsity team for what reason?
He was deemed too short
He was deemed too short at 5 ft 11 and starred for the junior varsity instead, then grew about four inches over the summer and made the varsity as a junior.
Q 03Jordan hit the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game against which team?
Georgetown
Georgetown still had time to answer, but guard Fred Brown threw a pass straight to Jordan's teammate James Worthy, and the 63-62 lead held.
Q 04At which pick did the Chicago Bulls select Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft?
Third
Third: Houston took Hakeem Olajuwon, and the next team, having drafted guard Clyde Drexler a year earlier, chose center Sam Bowie and left Jordan to the Bulls.
Q 05Which sports drink launched its 'Be Like Mike' commercials with Jordan in 1991?
Gatorade
Gatorade wanted the Jungle Book song 'I Wan'na Be Like You' for the ad, but Disney asked too much for it, so the agency wrote its own jingle instead.
Q 06Against which team did Jordan score a playoff-record 63 points in April 1986?
Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics: on 20 April 1986 at Boston Garden, Jordan scored 63 in a double-overtime Game 2 loss, beating Elgin Baylor's playoff record of 61, and Larry Bird called him 'God disguised as Michael Jordan'.
Q 07Jordan scored 3,041 points in 1986-87, yet which Lakers star beat him to that season's MVP award?
Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson won his first MVP award as his Lakers went 65-17, while Jordan's 37.1 points a game lifted the Bulls to only 40 wins.
Q 08In 1988 Jordan became the first NBA player to win MVP and which other award in one season?
Defensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year: Jordan led the league in scoring and steals that season, and through 2025 only Hakeem Olajuwon and Giannis Antetokounmpo had matched the same-season double.
Q 09Jordan's 1989 buzzer-beater known as 'The Shot' went over which Cleveland defender?
Craig Ehlo
Craig Ehlo's Cavaliers had swept Chicago in the regular season, but Jordan hung in the air at the foul line and hit over him at the buzzer for a 101-100 win.
Q 10The Pistons teams that knocked Jordan's Bulls out of the playoffs three years running, 1988 to 1990, had which nickname?
The Bad Boys
The Bad Boys beat Chicago in 1988, 1989 and 1990 with a rough defensive plan they called the 'Jordan Rules', until the Bulls swept them in the 1991 conference finals.
Q 11Jordan scored his career-high 69 points in a 1990 overtime win against which team?
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers: a year after 'The Shot' sank them on the same floor, they took Jordan to overtime, and he finished with 69 points and 18 rebounds in a 117-113 win.
Q 12Which offensive system did Phil Jackson and Tex Winter install to make the Bulls less reliant on Jordan?
The triangle offense
The triangle offense kept all five Bulls passing and cutting, so defenses like Detroit's could no longer load up on Jordan, who still took over when a play broke down.
Q 13Jordan's famous mid-air hand switch on a layup in the 1991 Finals came against which team?
Los Angeles Lakers
Q 21The 1995-96 Bulls' 72-10 record stood as the NBA's best until which team went 73-9 in 2016?
Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors were coached by Steve Kerr, a guard on that Bulls team, but they let a 3-1 lead slip in the Finals, so their 73 wins brought no title.
Q 22Jordan's title-clinching 'Last Shot' in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals came over which Jazz defender?
Bryon Russell
Bryon Russell was the defender: with 5.2 seconds left Jordan crossed over, with a possible push-off, and hit the jumper for an 87-86 lead; John Stockton's three-pointer at the buzzer missed.
Q 23Jordan's 1995 'double nickel' game, 55 points in his fifth game back, came at which arena?
Madison Square Garden
Los Angeles Lakers: they had won Game 1 in Chicago, but after the Game 2 switch that dodged Sam Perkins the Bulls took four straight for Jordan's first title.
Q 14Jordan's 'shrug' came after six first-half threes in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals against which opponent?
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers: after his sixth three-pointer of the half Jordan looked courtside and shrugged, as if he couldn't believe it either, on the way to 35 first-half points.
Q 15Which player beat Jordan to the 1993 regular-season MVP, then lost to him in that year's Finals?
Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley took the 1993 MVP, then watched Jordan average a Finals-record 41 points a game as the Bulls beat his Suns 4-2; Jordan became the first player to win three straight Finals MVPs.
Q 16Jordan's father James was murdered in July 1993 after pulling off a highway to rest in which state?
North Carolina
North Carolina: James Jordan had stopped near Lumberton to sleep during a night drive, and less than three months later his grieving son retired from basketball.
Q 17Jordan's habit of sticking out his tongue while playing was copied from which person?
His dad
His dad James stuck his tongue out whenever he was absorbed in fixing something, and Michael copied him until it became his own trademark on drives to the basket.
Q 18Which Double-A team did Jordan play for in 1994, batting .202 with three home runs?
Birmingham Barons
Birmingham Barons: Jordan said he was chasing his late father's dream of seeing him in the major leagues, and the White Sox, who shared an owner with the Bulls, gave him the chance.
Q 19Jordan announced his 1995 return to the NBA with what two-word press release?
'I'm back.'
'I'm back.' was the whole statement: with baseball's players on strike and his road to the majors blocked, Jordan gave up the sport and suited up for the Bulls the next day.
Q 20What jersey number did Jordan wear on his 1995 return before switching back to 23?
45
45 was his baseball number, and he went back to 23 in the 1995 playoffs after Orlando's Nick Anderson stole the ball from him and said 45 didn't explode like 23 used to.
Madison Square Garden saw Jordan pour 55 on the Knicks, yet the winning basket was a pass: with the defense drawn to him, he fed Bill Wennington under the rim for a 113-111 win.
Q 24Jordan won a record six Finals MVP awards; through 2025, which player ranked second with four?
LeBron James
LeBron James won his four with three different teams; the last came in 2020 at Walt Disney World, where the NBA finished its season inside a 'bubble' with no fans because of the pandemic.
Q 25Through 2025, Jordan's career average of 30.12 points a game led the NBA, just ahead of whose 30.07?
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain trails by five hundredths of a point: Jordan averaged 31.5 as a Bull, and his final two seasons, played around the age of 40, nearly dragged him below that mark.
Q 26After retiring from the Bulls in 1999, Jordan joined which team as an executive and later played for it?
Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards made him president of basketball operations in 2000, and a year later he gave up the job and his ownership share to put himself on the roster at 38.
Q 27Jordan pledged his salary from the first season of his final comeback to what cause?
Relief for victims of the 9/11 attacks
Relief for victims of the 9/11 attacks: Jordan announced his return as a player on 25 September 2001, two weeks after the attacks, and pledged the whole salary, in effect offering to play the season for nothing.
Q 28Which player gave up his 2003 All-Star starting spot so Jordan could start his final All-Star Game?
Vince Carter
Vince Carter gave up his starting spot at the 2003 game in Atlanta after Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady had offered theirs; Jordan started, scored 20 points and the East lost in double overtime.
Q 29Jordan's final NBA game, on 16 April 2003, was played in which city?
Philadelphia
Philadelphia's crowd chanted 'We want Mike!' until Jordan, benched with 13 points, came back on, was fouled on purpose and sank two free throws for the last points of his career.
Q 30Which team retired Jordan's No. 23 in April 2003 even though he never played for them?
Miami Heat
Miami Heat raised No. 23 before Jordan's last game in Miami, which made a visiting opponent the first player the franchise ever honored, six years before it retired a number for one of its own.