60 free Phoenix Suns trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Phoenix Suns trivia quiz covers the whole franchise: the 1968 expansion and the coin flip that cost them Kareem, the Madhouse on McDowell, Garfield Heard's shot in the triple-overtime 1976 Finals game, Kevin Johnson and Charles Barkley, the 62-win 1993 team, Steve Nash's back-to-back MVPs and Seven Seconds or Less, the Chris Paul run to the 2021 Finals, the Kevin Durant era and Devin Booker's climb to the top of the scoring list. Expect easy questions on the arena, the mascot and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the $200 logo, the 1987 drug scandal, the 153–151 playoff game and the Gorilla's appearance on WWE Raw. Uniforms and the Los Suns protest 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 watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year did the Suns begin play as an expansion team?
1968
They joined alongside the Milwaukee Bucks and were Arizona's first major pro franchise.
Q 02Which other franchise joined the NBA alongside the Suns in 1968?
Milwaukee Bucks
The two expansion mates flipped a coin for the 1969 No. 1 pick, and Milwaukee won the rights to Lew Alcindor.
Q 03Whom did the Suns draft with the second pick in 1969 after losing the coin flip for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
Neal Walk
The Florida centre had a solid career but the flip haunted the franchise for decades.
Q 04What was the entry fee the NBA charged Phoenix and Milwaukee to join the league in 1968?
$2 million
Commissioner J. Walter Kennedy had called Phoenix 'too hot, too small and too far away'.
Q 05Which of these names lost to 'Suns' in the 1968 name-the-team contest?
Scorpions
Rattlers, Thunderbirds, Wranglers, Mavericks, Tumbleweeds, Mustangs and Cougars also lost; the winner got $1,000 and season tickets.
Q 06How much was Tucson printer Stan Fabe paid to design the Suns' first iconic logo?
$200
The sunburst design survives in modernised form on today's uniforms.
Q 07Who became the Suns' first general manager at age 28 in 1968 and later owned the team?
Jerry Colangelo
He came from the Chicago Bulls as a scout and led the group that bought the team for a then-record $44 million in 1987.
Q 08What was the nickname of Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Suns' home for their first 24 seasons?
The Madhouse on McDowell
The Suns moved to America West Arena, the 'Purple Palace', in 1992.
Q 09Which broadcaster, 'the Voice of the Suns' from 1972 to 2023, is the longest-tenured in NBA history?
Al McCoy
He called all three of the franchise's Finals appearances and won the Curt Gowdy Media Award in 2007.
Q 10Which guard did the Suns get from Boston in 1975 for Charlie Scott, sparking their 1976 Finals run?
Paul Westphal
He later coached the 1993 Finals team, making him part of both of the franchise's first two Finals trips.
Q 11Who hit the buzzer-beating turnaround jumper that forced a third overtime in Game 5 of the 1976 Finals?
Garfield Heard
Westphal had deliberately called a timeout the Suns did not have to move the ball to half-court; Boston still won 128–126.
Q 12Which team beat the Suns in the 1976 NBA Finals?
Boston Celtics
The Suns had upset the defending champion Warriors in seven games to get there.
Q 13A 1987 drug scandal saw three active Suns indicted partly on immunised testimony from which star?
Walter Davis
No one went to trial, and the affair is now widely seen as a witch hunt, but it opened the door for Colangelo to buy the team.
Q 21Which fan favourite did the Suns trade to Cleveland in 1995 for John 'Hot Rod' Williams?
Dan Majerle
'Thunder Dan' returned to Phoenix in 2001 and later became an assistant coach.
Q 22With which pick did the Suns draft Steve Nash out of Santa Clara in 1996?
15th
He backed up Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson before being traded to Dallas in 1998.
Q 23What was the Suns' record to start 1996–97 after the Barkley trade, the worst start in franchise history?
0–13
They still made the playoffs behind an 11-game winning streak, one of very few teams to recover from such a start.
Q 14Which point guard did the Suns get from Cleveland in the 1988 trade that sent Larry Nance to the Cavaliers?
Kevin Johnson
The deal began a franchise-record 13 straight playoff appearances; Johnson later became mayor of Sacramento.
Q 15Which forward, signed by Phoenix in 1988, was the first unrestricted free agent in NBA history?
Tom Chambers
He came from Seattle and was one of four Suns All-Stars in the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons.
Q 16The Suns' last Coliseum game, a 1992 double-OT playoff loss to Portland, ended by what score?
153–151
It was the highest-scoring game in NBA playoff history at the time.
Q 17Which three players did the Suns send to Philadelphia in 1992 for Charles Barkley?
Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry
Barkley won MVP in his first season in Phoenix.
Q 18How many games did the 1992–93 Suns win to set a franchise record, later tied in 2004–05?
62
They came back from 0–2 against the eighth-seeded Lakers, then lost the Finals to Chicago.
Q 19Roughly how many fans celebrated the 1993 Finals team in the streets of Phoenix in 105-degree heat?
300,000
Game 3 of that series went to triple overtime, as had Game 5 of the 1976 Finals.
Q 20Which team eliminated the Suns in seven-game conference semifinals in both 1994 and 1995?
Houston Rockets
Phoenix led 2–0 in 1994 and 3–1 in 1995; Houston won the title both years.
Q 24The 1998 trade of Steve Nash to Dallas brought Phoenix a future first-round pick used on which player?
Shawn Marion
'The Matrix' became a four-time All-Star in Phoenix.
Q 25What nickname was given to the turn-of-the-millennium pairing of Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway?
Backcourt 2000
Injuries meant the duo was rarely on the floor together.
Q 26Amar'e Stoudemire became the first Rookie of the Year to have been drafted straight from what?
High school
He came from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando and won the award for 2002–03.
Q 27For how much did Robert Sarver's group buy the Suns from their longtime owner in 2004?
$401 million
Sarver sold to Mat Ishbia for a record $4 billion in 2022 after a league suspension.
Q 28By how many games did the Suns improve in 2004–05, a team record, after signing Steve Nash?
33
They went 62–20 and Nash won the first of his back-to-back MVPs.
Q 29Which coach won NBA Coach of the Year in his first season with the Suns in 2004–05?
Mike D'Antoni
His fast-break system was chronicled in the book 'Seven Seconds or Less'.
Q 30Steve Nash became the second point guard to win back-to-back MVPs, after whom?
Magic Johnson
He won in 2005 and 2006 and finished narrowly behind Dirk Nowitzki in 2007.