50 free NBA Logo trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free NBA logo trivia questions with answers. This NBA logo trivia quiz is for fans who notice the details: whose silhouette dribbles across the league's own mark, which letter a spur replaces on the Spurs, why the Blazers' pinwheel is really ten players, and how much a Tucson printer charged the Suns for their first logo. It covers all thirty franchises plus the departed Sonics, Bobcats and Vancouver Grizzlies. The questions run from easy (the Bulls, the Lakers, the flaming Heat ball) to genuinely tough (the designers behind the Knicks, Bulls and Vancouver marks), so it works for a family sports night or a hardcore fan group chat. Because it is text-based, nobody needs to see the logos, which makes it ideal for read-aloud pub quiz rounds. Every answer has been checked against team histories and encyclopaedic sources, so the trivia holds up even against the fan who owns every throwback jersey.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which player's silhouette is the basis of the NBA's own logo?
Jerry West
The league has never officially confirmed it, which is why his nickname "the Logo" stuck instead.
Q 02Who designed the NBA logo in 1969, a year after overseeing the Major League Baseball logo?
Alan Siegel
It debuted in 1971 and has barely changed since, apart from a typeface tweak in 2017.
Q 03Who designed the Boston Celtics' Lucky the Leprechaun logo?
Zang Auerbach, Red Auerbach's brother
The logo stayed green, white and black until a full-colour makeover for the club's 50th anniversary in 1996-97.
Q 04What is the name of the leprechaun on the Celtics logo?
Lucky
A white shamrock in a green circle has served as the main alternate mark since 1998-99.
Q 05The Chicago Bulls' charging red bull logo, adopted in 1966, was created by which graphic designer?
Dean P. Wessel
An early-1970s alternate added a cloud reading "Windy City" under the bull's nose.
Q 06The Toronto Raptors' original dinosaur logo was inspired by the popularity of which film?
Jurassic Park
By the end of 1994 the expansion team was already seventh in the league in merchandise sales.
Q 07Toronto dropped the idea of reviving the Huskies name because any logo would resemble which team's?
Minnesota Timberwolves
A nationwide contest chose the Raptors name and colours instead.
Q 08The Raptors' 2014 primary logo was described by the team as a ball torn by what?
A raptor's claw
It replaced the cartoon dinosaur that had defined the franchise since 1995.
Q 09The Milwaukee Bucks name refers to which Wisconsin state animal?
The white-tailed deer
Fans actually voted for Robins, the state bird, but the judges took the second-place choice.
Q 10What is the name of the Bucks' deer mascot?
Bango
The word was coined by longtime play-by-play announcer Eddie Doucette and won a naming contest.
Q 11What does the Portland Trail Blazers' famous pinwheel logo actually depict?
Two teams lined up
Founder Harry Glickman's cousin designed it as a graphic of two five-on-five teams facing off.
Q 12The Golden State Warriors' "The City" logo depicts what landmark?
The Bay Bridge
The 2010 update showed the bridge's new eastern span; the original 1969-71 version showed a cable car.
Q 13The Atlanta Hawks' 1972-95 hawk-head logo is nicknamed after which video game character?
Pac-Man
A modernised version returned as a secondary logo in 2014 and became primary a year later.
Q 21What weapon pierces the words "Cleveland Cavaliers" in the team's modern logo?
A sword
The very first Cavs logo in 1970 was a swashbuckling cavalier pointing a sword.
Q 22The Denver Nuggets' 1980s rainbow-skyline logo is nicknamed after which video game?
Tetris
The team ditched the rainbow colours for navy, gold and wine in 1993-94.
Q 23What was the name of the cartoon prospector on the Nuggets' logo during their final ABA seasons?
Maxie the Miner
When Denver joined the NBA in 1976 it kept the pick-axe on its jerseys.
Stan Fabe, a Tucson printer, designed the Phoenix Suns' first logo for how much?
Q 14In the San Antonio Spurs logo, a stylised spur replaces which letter?
U
The wordmark is set in Eurostile and has been in use since the club moved to San Antonio in 1973.
Q 15The Spurs' 1989-2002 logo used which unusual colour set, known as the Fiesta colours?
Pink, orange and turquoise
The uniforms stayed silver and black the whole time.
Q 16What kind of animal's head, with a flaming mane, featured on the Detroit Pistons logo from 1996 to 2005?
A horse
The teal-era logo was a horsepower pun; the mascot Hooper survived after the theme was dropped.
Q 17The 76ers' first logo in 1963 carried 13 stars above the numeral 7 to represent what?
The thirteen colonies
The stars returned when the club revived a modified version of its classic look in 2009.
Q 18The Utah Jazz's music-note logo, with a note forming the J, honours which city as the birthplace of jazz?
New Orleans
The franchise kept the name and note after moving from Louisiana to Salt Lake City in 1979.
Q 19The Jazz's 1996-2004 purple-mountains logo was designed by which NBA creative director?
Tom O'Grady
He based it on the logo for the 1993 All-Star Game, held in Salt Lake City.
Q 20The Houston Rockets' 1972-95 logo, a gold ball with two red trails, was nicknamed after which condiments?
Ketchup and mustard
Fans coined the name; the club later went navy and silver, then returned to red in 2003.
$200
The Streaking Sun mark that followed has been on the chest, shorts or beltline ever since.
Q 25In the Orlando Magic logo, a star replaces which letter of the team name?
The A
Walt Disney World artists sat in on the design meetings, and 5,000 suggestions came in from the public.
Q 26The Miami Heat's primary logo is best described as what?
A flaming basketball
A chrome-treated version starred on the sleeved "Big Logo" uniforms of 2013.
Q 27The Pelicans' "Bird-de-Lis" mark combines a pelican, a crescent basketball and what?
A fleur-de-lis
The team unveiled the pelican identity, with navy, gold and red, on January 24, 2013.
Q 28As of 2025, the Memphis Grizzlies were one of how many NBA teams whose primary logo had no basketball?
9
The Bulls, Cavaliers, Bucks, Hawks, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Rockets and Spurs were the others.
Q 29Who is credited with designing the original Vancouver Grizzlies logo in 1995?
Josh Davis
The teal bear was joined by "howling bear", "G-bear" and "ball and claws" alternates over the years.
Q 30According to owner Clay Bennett, the Thunder's 2008 logo borrowed elements from which college programmes?
The Sooners and the Cowboys
The Sonics name, colours and logo were left behind in Seattle for any future franchise.