NBA Jam
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40 free NBA Jam trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
NBA Jam turned basketball into a two-on-two spectacle of impossible dunks and shoving matches, and it swallowed a generation's pocket money. Part of the fun was the rosters: every team was boiled down to a pair of players, and the choices still start arguments. This quiz covers the rosters of the original arcade machine and the home versions that followed, the famous names who never appeared, the players who were swapped or removed, and the hidden characters tucked behind secret codes. It also takes in the rules, the people who built the game, the sequels and the modern revival. It is written for anyone who ever picked a favourite duo and held down the turbo button, and for NBA fans who want to see how well they remember the league as the game froze it. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which superstar is missing from the original NBA Jam because Midway never secured his name and likeness rights?
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan held the rights to his own name and likeness rather than leaving them with the NBA, so the league's licence could not put him on the Chicago Bulls.
Q 02NBA Jam's 1993 US arcade revenue exceeded the domestic box office of which blockbuster film that year?
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park was the biggest film of 1993 in the US, and NBA Jam beat it a few coins at a time, with single machines earning up to $2,400 a week.
Q 03Which superstar plays in arcade NBA Jam but is missing from the home console versions?
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal lines up for the Orlando Magic in arcades, but he later bought control of his own name and likeness, and the home versions went ahead without him.
Q 04NBA Jam's lead designer rigged the Chicago Bulls to miss last-second shots against which team he supported?
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons got their edge only in close games, and the designer did not confirm the long-suspected bias until 2008.
Q 05Which US president can be unlocked as a hidden player in the 1990s home versions of NBA Jam?
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was in the White House when the games came out, and the home versions of Tournament Edition also let players pick the First Lady and Vice President Al Gore.
Q 06In NBA Jam, what visibly happens to the ball once a player has scored three baskets in a row?
It catches fire
It catches fire and singes the net, and the scorer gets unlimited turbo and sharper shooting until the other team scores.
Q 07Hidden fighters from which arcade series were removed from NBA Jam Tournament Edition at the request of the NBA?
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat's Raiden, Reptile, Scorpion and Sub-Zero were playable in test cabinets until the league asked for them to be taken out of the final version.
Q 08The dunking bodies of the stars in the original NBA Jam were digitized from video footage of whom?
Amateur players
Amateur players were filmed and the stars' heads added afterwards; one of the models, Stephen Howard, went on to play in the NBA himself.
Q 09Which twin brothers both appear in arcade NBA Jam, one for the Chicago Bulls and one for Washington?
Horace and Harvey Grant
Horace and Harvey Grant are identical twins: Horace partners Scottie Pippen in Chicago, while Harvey lines up beside Tom Gugliotta for the Bullets.
Q 10Which cartoon character was planned as a secret NBA Jam player alongside Godzilla before both were scrapped?
Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson and Godzilla never made the final game, though its hidden roster still grew to include the designers themselves.
Q 11Which point guard partners Karl Malone on the Utah Jazz in every version of the original NBA Jam?
John Stockton
John Stockton and Karl Malone are one of the few duos that stayed the same across the arcade, console and handheld versions.
Q 12Which team's NBA Jam duo of Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway had been two-thirds of the high-scoring Run TMC trio?
Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors fans had lost the trio's third member, Mitch Richmond, in a 1991 trade, so the home versions list him for the Sacramento Kings.
Q 13NBA Jam Tournament Edition's hidden players Hugo, Benny and Crunch are better known around the NBA as what?
Team mascots
Q 21Which New Jersey Nets guard was removed from NBA Jam's home versions after his death in a 1993 car accident?
Dražen Petrović
Dražen Petrović died in Germany in June 1993, and Boston's Reggie Lewis, who died the following month, was dropped from the home versions too.
Q 22Which Phoenix Suns three-point specialist partners Charles Barkley in the arcade version of NBA Jam?
Dan Majerle
Dan Majerle led the NBA in three-pointers made that season as Phoenix reached the Finals, yet the first home versions gave his place to Kevin Johnson.
Q 23Which Seattle guard, left out of the original NBA Jam, mailed the designers his photos and asked to join the sequel?
Gary Payton
Team mascots Hugo the Hornet, Benny the Bull and Crunch the Wolf can all be unlocked, along with the Gorilla who entertains the crowd in Phoenix.
Q 14NBA Jam drops fouls and free throws, but which violation is still called along with the 24-second shot clock?
Goaltending
Goaltending and the shot clock are the only rules left, so shoving or elbowing an opponent to the floor goes unpunished.
Q 15NBA Jam's announcer borrows a sneaker catchphrase from Mars Blackmon, a character played by which film director?
Spike Lee
Spike Lee first played Mars Blackmon in his 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, then carried the character into Nike basketball shoe commercials.
Q 16Which veteran NBA broadcaster replaced the series' original announcer for the 1996 arcade sequel NBA Jam Extreme?
Marv Albert
Marv Albert took over for the first game in the series with 3D graphics; the original announcer's delivery had been reminiscent of his.
Q 17Which publisher revived the NBA Jam series in 2010 with its original lead designer as a consultant?
EA Sports
EA Sports rebuilt the two-on-two game at its Canadian studio, giving the players 3D bodies topped with photographs of their real heads.
Q 18Which American football arcade series did Midway create by applying the NBA Jam formula to another league?
NFL Blitz
NFL Blitz proved a major success in its own right, and Midway gave hockey and baseball the same exaggerated treatment.
Q 19Which rookie, the only college player on the 1992 Dream Team, appears for Minnesota in arcade NBA Jam?
Christian Laettner
Christian Laettner was drafted third overall by the Timberwolves and went straight into the game beside veteran Chuck Person.
Q 20Which Houston Rockets guard, later a studio analyst on Inside the NBA, partners Hakeem Olajuwon in arcade NBA Jam?
Kenny Smith
Kenny Smith gave way to Vernon Maxwell in the home versions, one of many arcade pairings updated for the following NBA season.
Gary Payton had been passed over because Seattle's arcade pairing was Shawn Kemp and center Benoit Benjamin.
Q 24Which former Slam Dunk Contest winner partners Wayman Tisdale on the Sacramento Kings in arcade NBA Jam?
Spud Webb
Spud Webb, the shortest player ever to enter the dunk contest, won it in 1986; the home versions replaced him with Mitch Richmond.
Q 25Which Charlotte Hornets guard, traded away in 1993, lost his NBA Jam place beside Larry Johnson to Alonzo Mourning?
Kendall Gill
Kendall Gill left for Seattle in the 1993 off-season, so the home versions teamed Larry Johnson with Mourning, the second pick of the 1992 draft.
Q 26Which Boston Celtics great, playing his final NBA season, partners Reggie Lewis in arcade NBA Jam?
Kevin McHale
Kevin McHale retired in 1993, so the home versions rebuilt Boston around Dee Brown and Robert Parish.
Q 27Which team, last in its division in 1992–93, is represented in NBA Jam by Brad Lohaus and Blue Edwards?
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks fans kept Lohaus and Edwards in the first home versions, before the later Sega CD and Game Boy releases switched to Vin Baker and Eric Murdock.
Q 28Which New York Knicks power forward partners Patrick Ewing in arcade NBA Jam before John Starks takes over at home?
Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley spent ten seasons with the Knicks and ranked year after year among the NBA's best rebounders and defenders.
Q 29Which Boston Celtics legend joins Magic Johnson as the final opponents in the 2010 NBA Jam on Wii?
Larry Bird
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson head a cast of more than 30 unlockable legends, among them Julius Erving, Dennis Rodman and Manute Bol.
Q 30Who voices the announcer in NBA Jam and re-recorded his lines for the 2010 revival?
Tim Kitzrow
Tim Kitzrow says he improvised much of the commentary, although the announcer's script is credited to the game's composer, Jon Hey.