60 free Portland Trail Blazers trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Portland Trail Blazers trivia quiz runs from Harry Glickman's 1970 expansion team to the Damian Lillard era and beyond: the name that lost to 'Pioneers', Bill Walton and Jack Ramsay's 1977 championship, the 814-game sellout streak, Clyde Drexler's two Finals trips, the Bowie-over-Jordan and Oden-over-Durant drafts, the Jail Blazers, Brandon Roy, Dame's buzzer-beaters against Houston and Oklahoma City and the 2023 trade to Milwaukee. Expect easy questions on the arena, the mascot and the biggest names; middle-difficulty history for regular fans; and hard ones about the 1990 Finals songs, Rasheed Wallace's technical-foul record and the Bigfoot mascot that annoyed Don Nelson. Uniforms, the pinwheel logo and ownership all get a turn. 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 Rip City 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 01What name did the Trail Blazers' arena, the Rose Garden until 2013, take that year?
Moda Center
The name change, part of a $4 million deal with Moda Health, was widely criticised by fans.
Q 02In which year did the Trail Blazers enter the NBA as an expansion team?
1970
They came in alongside the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves.
Q 03How many consecutive home games did the Blazers sell out between 1977 and 1995?
814
The streak was the longest in American major pro sports at the time and ended only when the team moved to a bigger building.
Q 04In which year did the Trail Blazers win their only NBA championship?
1977
They beat the heavily favoured Philadelphia 76ers in the Finals in their first-ever playoff appearance.
Q 05Which sports promoter founded the Trail Blazers after first proposing an NBA team for Portland in 1955?
Harry Glickman
He raised the $3.7 million entry fee with the help of three real-estate magnates.
Q 06Which name topped Portland's 1970 name-the-team contest but was excluded because a local college used it?
Pioneers
'Trail Blazers' received only 172 of the more than 10,000 entries but was chosen by the judging panel.
Q 07Which UCLA big man did the Blazers take first overall in 1974 and who won Finals MVP three years later?
Bill Walton
He won regular-season MVP in 1978, then held out the whole 1978–79 season over his medical treatment and left as a free agent.
Q 08Which power forward, picked up in the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, was a key part of the 1977 title team?
Maurice Lucas
Portland took him after the ABA's leftover teams were dissolved; he left in 1980.
Q 09Who coached the Trail Blazers to the 1977 championship?
Jack Ramsay
'Dr. Jack' had a number retired in his honour even though he never played for the team; the number 77 marks the title.
Q 10What was the Blazers' record when Bill Walton's foot injury struck in 1977–78, ending talk of a dynasty?
50–10
They stumbled to 8–14 the rest of the way and lost to Seattle in the conference semifinals.
Q 11Which guard-forward, drafted 14th in 1983, became 'the face of the franchise for over a decade'?
Clyde Drexler
'Clyde the Glide' was traded to Houston in 1995 at his own request and won a title there that spring.
Q 12Which Kentucky big man did the Blazers pick second overall in 1984, one spot ahead of Michael Jordan?
Sam Bowie
He broke his leg five games into 1986–87 and missed the next two and a half seasons.
Q 13Which guard, the last first-round pick in 1985, left the Blazers as their assists leader?
Terry Porter
He left in 1995 as the franchise's assists leader and later served as a sideline reporter for the team's TV broadcasts.
Q 21Which six-time champion did the Blazers acquire from Houston in 1999?
Scottie Pippen
He helped them to consecutive West finals in 1999 and 2000.
Q 22How many technical fouls did Rasheed Wallace record in 2000–01, still the NBA single-season record?
41
Since 2006 players face suspensions from their 16th technical, so nobody can approach the mark.
Q 23Which nickname did the media attach to Portland's troubled teams of the early 2000s?
The Jail Blazers
Marijuana citations, a locker-room fight and Bonzi Wells's remarks about fans all fed the label.
Q 14Which two players from behind the Iron Curtain did the Blazers draft in 1986?
Arvydas Sabonis and Dražen Petrović
Petrović arrived in 1989; Sabonis did not debut in Portland until 1995, at age 31.
Q 15For how much did Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen buy the Blazers in 1988?
$70 million
At 35 he became the youngest owner in the four major sports; his estate sold the team for about $4.2 billion in 2025.
Q 16Which two teams beat the Blazers in the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals?
Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls
Between the two trips, the 63–19 Blazers of 1991 lost the West finals to the Lakers.
Q 17Which two songs did the Blazers record before their 1990 Finals run?
'Bust a Bucket' and 'Rip City Rhapsody'
'Rip City' is the nickname broadcaster Bill Schonely coined in the team's first season.
Q 18What was the Blazers' league-best record in 1990–91, the season between their two Finals trips?
63–19
It ended with Cliff Robinson dropping a pass under the basket and Terry Porter missing a wide-open 20-footer in Game 6 against the Lakers.
Q 19Which executive, nicknamed 'Trader Bob', became Blazers president in 1994 and built the 'Jail Blazers' rosters?
Bob Whitsitt
Doug Collins called him a 'rotisserie-league manager'; he left in 2003 to focus on the Seahawks.
Q 20Which team beat the Blazers in Game 7 of the 2000 West finals after Portland blew a 15-point lead?
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers went on a 25–4 run and won 89–84 on the way to the title.
Q 24Which teammate did Ruben Patterson slam to the floor in 2003's 'The Slam Heard Around The World'?
Zach Randolph
Randolph later fractured Patterson's eye socket with a sucker punch in practice.
Q 25The Blazers' streak of consecutive playoff appearances that ended in 2004 lasted how many seasons?
21
It is tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history.
Q 26Which Ohio State big man did the Blazers take first overall in 2007, one pick ahead of Kevin Durant?
Greg Oden
Microfracture surgery wiped out his rookie season, inviting comparisons to the Bowie-over-Jordan pick.
Q 27Which Blazers guard, acquired on 2006 draft night, won Rookie of the Year before knees forced his 2011 retirement?
Brandon Roy
Portland got him and LaMarcus Aldridge in a draft day that involved six trades.
Q 28Which executive became the NBA's first Asian-American general manager, with the Blazers in 2010?
Rich Cho
He was fired less than a year later over 'chemistry issues' with Paul Allen.
Q 29Which Weber State guard did the Blazers select sixth overall in 2012?
Damian Lillard
He was a unanimous Rookie of the Year, joining Ralph Sampson, David Robinson and Blake Griffin.
Q 30Portland's series-ending buzzer-beater in Game 6 of the 2014 first round beat which team?
Houston Rockets
With 0.9 seconds left he hit a three to send Portland to the second round for the first time since 2000.