NBA Draft
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99 free NBA Draft trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The NBA draft is two rounds, sixty names and decades of second-guessing. Portland took Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Detroit took Darko over Carmelo, Bosh and Wade. Kobe went 13th, Giannis 15th, Jokić 41st during a Taco Bell ad, and the last pick of 2011 nearly won an MVP. The lottery exists because teams were accused of losing on purpose for a coin flip, and the 'frozen envelope' theory is still argued about forty years later. These 99 questions cover the rules and the legends: how many balls are in the machine, what the Stepien Rule forbids, what a territorial pick was, the first No. 1 in 1950, Baylor, Kareem, Bird waiting a year, Magic, the 1984 coin flip, Len Bias, David Robinson's Navy years, Shaq, Garnett's prep-to-pro leap, Iverson as the shortest No. 1, Nowitzki's trade, the worst class of 2000, Kwame Brown, Yao, LeBron, Bargnani, Oden over Durant, Rose, Curry at seven, Kyrie, Draymond, Davis, Bennett and Wiggins, Simmons, Dončić, Zion, Cunningham, Banchero, Wembanyama and Flagg. Easy questions stick to LeBron and Shaq; the hardest ask about pick numbers and franchise records. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for draft night.
30 of 99 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which league held the 1947 draft that the NBA still counts as its first?
Basketball Association of America
Basketball Association of America teams held the 1947 to 1949 drafts, and in 1949 the league merged with the rival National Basketball League to form the NBA.
Q 02Which four-time Defensive Player of the Year went undrafted in 1996?
Ben Wallace
Ben Wallace came from Division II Virginia Union, yet he anchored the defense that won Detroit the 2004 title and entered the Hall of Fame in 2021.
Q 03Which future Hall of Famer did San Antonio draft 57th in 1999 and leave in Italy for three seasons?
Manu Ginóbili
Manu Ginóbili became the player credited with popularizing the Euro step move in the NBA.
Q 04Which future Celtics great did St. Louis draft second in 1956 and trade for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan?
Bill Russell
Bill Russell turned the trade into a dynasty: Boston won 11 titles in his career, eight in a row, while St. Louis won its only title in 1958.
Q 05Which 2020 No. 3 pick skipped college to play professionally in Australia?
LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball had signed with an agent to play professionally overseas, ending his college eligibility, and in Australia he was named NBL Rookie of the Year.
Q 06Which Georgetown center was the prize of the NBA's first draft lottery in 1985?
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing went to whichever of seven sealed envelopes David Stern drew first, replacing the old coin flip between the two conferences' worst teams.
Q 07Which team won the very first draft lottery in 1985?
New York Knicks
New York Knicks won it, and even then there was talk that the draw had been fixed so they would get the first pick.
Q 08Which Wake Forest center did San Antonio draft first after winning the 1997 lottery?
Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan was San Antonio's reward for a 20-62 season in which injuries held David Robinson to six games.
Q 09Toronto drafted Antawn Jamison fourth in 1998, then traded him for which fifth pick?
Vince Carter
Vince Carter helped Toronto reach the playoffs for the first time in 2000, two seasons after the swap.
Q 10Which regulation requires a team to own a first-round pick in every other draft?
The Stepien Rule
The Stepien Rule followed Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien's habit of trading away future first-round picks for mediocre players in the early 1980s.
Q 11Which future US senator was drafted in 1965 but studied at Oxford before joining the NBA?
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley still played professionally while at Oxford, commuting to Italy to play for Olimpia Milano.
Q 12Which future two-time MVP did Phoenix draft 15th out of Santa Clara in 1996?
Steve Nash
Steve Nash spent two seasons as a Phoenix backup and was traded away in 1998, then returned in 2004 and won back-to-back MVP awards.
Q 13Which Holy Cross star did Boston pass up in 1950, only to draw his name from a hat months later?
Bob Cousy
Bob Cousy had been dismissed by coach Red Auerbach as a 'local yokel', and owner Walter Brown was hoping to draw Max Zaslofsky, yet Cousy won six titles in Boston.
Q 21Which 1986 No. 2 pick died two days after the draft?
Len Bias
Len Bias had passed a physical only days earlier, then collapsed in his University of Maryland dormitory early in the morning.
Q 22Why did the Spurs wait two years for 1987 No. 1 pick David Robinson?
Navy service duty
Navy service duty came first, and when Robinson arrived the Spurs went from 21-61 to 56-26, then the biggest one-year turnaround in NBA history.
Q 23Which third pick of the 1993 draft was traded that night for top pick Chris Webber?
Penny Hardaway
Penny Hardaway came with three future first-round picks, the price Golden State paid for Chris Webber.
Q 14Which team took Elgin Baylor first overall in 1958?
Minneapolis Lakers
Minneapolis Lakers had also drafted him in the 14th round in 1956, but Baylor stayed at Seattle University and turned pro only after his junior season.
Q 15Which 1969 No. 1 pick played as Lew Alcindor before changing his name?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took his new name after converting from Catholicism to Islam.
Q 16Which Indiana State star did Boston draft sixth in 1978, then wait a year to sign?
Larry Bird
Larry Bird's arrival turned a 29-53 Boston team into a 61-21 one, a 32-game improvement in his rookie season.
Q 17Who went first overall in 1979 after winning an NCAA title at Michigan State?
Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson played center, forward and guard in the 1980 title clincher as a rookie, scoring 42 points to win Finals MVP.
Q 18Who went first overall in 1984, two picks before Michael Jordan?
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon grew up in Lagos playing soccer and team handball, which gave him the footwork behind his famous post moves.
Q 19Which team picked Sam Bowie second in 1984, just ahead of Michael Jordan?
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers had drafted guard Clyde Drexler a year earlier and wanted a center, but leg injuries held Bowie to 139 games in five seasons there.
Q 20Which college did Michael Jordan leave after his junior year to enter the 1984 draft?
North Carolina
North Carolina won the 1982 national title on Jordan's game-winning shot, taken as a freshman against Georgetown.
Q 24Which 1995 fifth pick led a wave of players jumping straight from high school to the NBA?
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett's leap was followed a year later by Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal, both drafted straight from high school in 1996.
Q 25Which team drafted Kobe Bryant 13th in 1996 and traded him before he played a game?
Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte Hornets took him under a deal agreed before the draft, then traded his rights for center Vlade Divac in July.
Q 26Which Georgetown guard did Philadelphia take first overall in 1996?
Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson was often the smallest player on the court, yet he won Rookie of the Year and, in 2001, the league MVP award.
Q 27Which team drafted Dirk Nowitzki ninth in 1998, then traded him away that night?
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks chose sixth pick Robert Traylor instead, trading away Nowitzki's rights along with Pat Garrity.
Q 28Which Cincinnati senior did New Jersey draft first overall in 2000?
Kenyon Martin
Kenyon Martin went first even though he had broken his leg at the end of his senior season at Cincinnati.
Q 29Who was the first player drafted No. 1 straight out of high school?
Kwame Brown
Kwame Brown was chosen by a Washington front office run by Michael Jordan.
Q 30Who was the first international player without US college experience to go No. 1?
Yao Ming
Yao Ming could be drafted only after clearing hurdles with the Shanghai Sharks and the Chinese Basketball Association, and he made eight All-Star teams.