60 free Washington Wizards trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Washington Wizards trivia quiz covers the whole franchise, not just the Wizards years: the one-season Chicago Packers, the Baltimore Bullets of Earl Monroe and Wes Unseld, four Finals trips in the 1970s and the 1978 championship, the long drought, Abe Pollin's 1997 decision to drop the Bullets name, Michael Jordan's comeback and firing, Gilbert Arenas, John Wall and Bradley Beal, and the current rebuild around Alex Sarr. Easy questions cover the arena, the colours and the biggest names; harder ones ask about the meatpacking origins of 'Packers', the coach fired with a 62 percent winning record, the first NBA team to tour China, and which names lost the 1997 renaming contest. Uniforms, logos and ownership all get a look. 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 01What name did the Wizards' Chinatown arena, shared with the city's NHL team, take in 2017?
Capital One Arena
It opened as the MCI Center in December 1997 and was known as Verizon Center before the 2017 renaming.
Q 02The team's original 1961 nickname referenced which Chicago industry?
Meatpacking
'Packers' was hugely unpopular because it was also the name of the Bears' bitter rivals in Green Bay, so it lasted one season.
Q 03What was the franchise called during its second season, 1962–63, its last in Chicago?
Zephyrs
Terry Dischinger won Rookie of the Year that season before the team moved to Baltimore.
Q 04The 'Bullets' name adopted after the 1963 relocation was borrowed from what?
A defunct 1940s–50s Baltimore BAA/NBA franchise
The name lasted until 1997, when owner Abe Pollin decided it carried violent overtones.
Q 05Which rookie starred for the 1961–62 Chicago Packers, averaging 31.6 points and 19 rebounds a game?
Walt Bellamy
He won Rookie of the Year and led the league in field-goal percentage, yet the team went 18–62.
Q 06Which owner bought the Bullets with two partners for $1.1 million in 1964 and held the team until 2009?
Abe Pollin
At his death he was the longest-tenured owner in NBA history.
Q 07Who is the only player in franchise history to win league MVP (1969) and Finals MVP (1978)?
Wes Unseld
He also won Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, a feat matched only by Wilt Chamberlain.
Q 08With which pick did the Bullets draft both Earl Monroe (1967) and their future MVP centre (1968)?
Second overall
The team jumped from 36 wins to 57 in Unseld's rookie year.
Q 09Which team swept the Bullets in their first NBA Finals appearance in 1971?
Milwaukee Bucks
Baltimore had reached the Finals by beating the Knicks in a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden while Willis Reed was hurt.
Q 10Which Hall of Fame forward did Baltimore acquire from the Houston Rockets in 1972?
Elvin Hayes
'The Big E' anchored the 1978 title team and was traded back to Houston in 1981.
Q 11What was the team's name during its first season in the Washington area, 1973–74?
Capital Bullets
They played at the new Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, and became the Washington Bullets a year later.
Q 12On which college campus did the Bullets play in November 1973 while their new arena was finished?
Maryland
They used Cole Field House in College Park until the Capital Centre opened on December 2, 1973.
Q 13What was the Bullets' franchise-best record, set in 1974–75?
60–22
They went 36–5 at home yet were swept in the Finals by Golden State.
Q 21Which 7-foot-7 shot-blocker set a franchise record with 397 blocks as a Bullets rookie in 1985–86?
Manute Bol
His team blocked 716 shots that season, also a franchise record.
Q 22Which centre did the Bullets acquire from Philadelphia in 1986 in exchange for Jeff Ruland?
Moses Malone
He led the team with 24.1 points a game in what was Washington's last winning season until 1996–97.
Q 23Which 5-foot-3 guard, the shortest player in NBA history, did the Bullets draft 12th overall in 1987?
Muggsy Bogues
He was later taken by Charlotte in the 1988 expansion draft and became a Hornets legend.
Q 14Which team stunned the heavily favoured Bullets with a four-game sweep in the 1975 NBA Finals?
Golden State Warriors
Al Attles's Warriors won Games 1 and 4 at the Capital Centre.
Q 15Which coach did the Bullets fire after the 1975–76 season despite his 62 percent winning record?
K. C. Jones
He later coached the Celtics to two titles in the 1980s; Dick Motta replaced him in Washington.
Q 16Which team did the Bullets beat in seven games to win the 1978 NBA championship?
Seattle SuperSonics
It was Washington's first pro sports title in 36 years and remains the franchise's only NBA championship.
Q 17Which phrase, coined by San Antonio journalist Dan Cook, became the rallying cry of the 1978 title run?
It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings
The 44–38 Bullets were long shots when the season began.
Q 18What was the Bullets' regular-season record in their 1977–78 championship season?
44–38
Their most recent 50-win season came the following year, 1978–79, at 54–28.
Q 19In the 1979 East finals the Bullets came back from 3–1 down to beat which team in a Game 7 classic?
San Antonio Spurs
They beat George Gervin's Spurs 107–105 before losing the Finals to Seattle in five.
Q 20In August 1979 the Bullets became the first NBA team to visit which country?
China
They beat the Bayi Rockets and the Shanghai Sharks on the trip.
Q 24In 1990 the Bullets named which executive as the first female president of an NBA franchise?
Susan O'Malley
She was the daughter of Peter O'Malley, a former president of the Washington Capitals.
Q 25Which 7-foot-7 Romanian centre won Most Improved Player with the Bullets in 1995–96?
Gheorghe Mureșan
He led the NBA in field-goal percentage the following season and later starred in the film 'My Giant'.
Q 26Which forward did the Bullets acquire from Golden State in 1994 for Tom Gugliotta and three first-round picks?
Chris Webber
He reunited with fellow Fab Five member Juwan Howard, but shoulder injuries and off-court issues led to a 1998 trade to Sacramento.
Q 27Why did the team's owner decide in 1995 to drop the 'Bullets' name?
It had acquired violent overtones amid D.C.'s crime rate
The recent assassination of his friend Yitzhak Rabin also weighed on him: 'If I save one life... it'll be worth it.'
Q 28Which of these was NOT among the five finalists in the contest to rename the Bullets?
Monuments
'Stallions' rounded out the list; 'Wizards' won and became official on May 15, 1997.
Q 29Why did the 'Wizards' name generate controversy when it was adopted?
'Wizard' is a rank in the Ku Klux Klan
Washington's large African American population made the association especially awkward.
Q 30The 1997 Wizards colours of blue, black and bronze matched which other team with the same owner?
Washington Capitals
The Capitals had made the same switch from red, white and blue two years earlier.