NBA Historical Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Bernard King

In 1984 Bernard King played for the New York Knicks; the Christmas Day game that year featured the Knicks against the New Jersey Nets. It was a stellar season for the future Hall of Famer. He ended the season as the NBA Scoring Champion and on the All-NBA First Team for the second year in a row.

Answer: Buffalo Braves

The Buffalo Braves were an expansion franchise that joined the NBA in 1970, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Portland Trail Blazers. The club left Buffalo in 1978 and moved to San Diego, CA where they were known as the San Diego Clippers (no relation to the Conquistadors of the old ABA).In 1984, they moved to Los Angeles and became the L.A. Clippers.

Answer: Chuck Share

Share was drafted by the Boston Celtics, but never played a game for them. He played for Fort Wayne in the 1951-52 season, then the Hawks in 1954. After the Hawks, Chuck was a one-season Minneapolis Laker and retired in 1960. He averaged 8.3 points and 8.4 rebounds in his career.

Answer: Berlin

The first year when basketball was an Olympic sport was in 1936. USA won the Gold the very first time basketball was an Olympic sport with Canada getting the silver.

Answer: Johnny Kerr

Johnny Kerr coached the expansion Chicago Bulls to a 33-48 record in their inaugural season, earning him the Coach of the Year honors.

Answer: Buffalo Braves

In the 1976-77 NBA regular season, the Buffalo Braves, who later became the San Diego Clippers and then the Los Angeles Clippers, traded Moses Malone to the Houston Rockets on 24-Oct-1976 and later traded Bob McAdoo to the New York Knickerbockers on 9-Dec-1976. Bob McAdoo went on to win two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982 and 1985 and Moses Malone went on to win the NBA championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983 on top of MVP Awards in 1979, 1982, and 1983. Both players were also inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Answer: '79 Supersonics

Wilkens only won one championship and one coach of the year award.

Answer: Minneapolis Lakers

The Lakers won their first two titles beating the Syracuse Nationals and the Washington Capitols. The Lakers won both series 4-2. They won in the 1948-49 and the 1949-50 seasons.

Answer: Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant made it in his 24th years old and 193 days.

Answer: Harlem Globetrotters

Most people associate Wilt "the Stilt" with the Los Angeles Lakers. He played 5 seasons with the Lakers, four years with the Warriors of Philadelphia and San Francisco, and three with the 76ers. However, in the 1958-1959 season, Wilt was seen touring with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Answer: Lenny Wilkens

One championship in 1979 with Seattle. He won his 939th victory on January 6th, 1995.

Answer: 1984

He won 6 championships with the Bulls

Answer: Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors with 37.6 ppg in season 1959-60.

Answer: Kiel Arena

The Atlanta Hawks were at the Omni Coliseum 1972-1997, the Georgia Dome 1997-1999, and Philips Arena beginning in 1999. The St. Louis Hawks played at Kiel Arena from 1955-1968, then relocated to Atlanta. The Atlanta Hawks played at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum from 1968-1972.

Answer: 5

Gary Payton played 17 seasons in the NBA from 1990-2007, playing for 5 different teams: Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat.

Answer: Ferdinand

Kareem was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. in 1947. After attending UCLA, he joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 and played with them for six seasons. His other 14 seasons were with the Lakers. He won a season MVP six times, and retired in 1989 with the most points scored in NBA history with 38,387. On May 1, 1971, Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995.

Answer: Oregon

Oregon won the NCAA Men's Basketball championship in 1939. The Ducks beat out Ohio State with the final score of 46-33.

Answer: Chicago and New York

Each team had three players on the Eastern squad (to make up 6 of the 12 players representing the East): Chicago sent Scottie Pippen (who was MVP of the game), Horace Grant and B.J. Armstrong, while New York sent Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and John Starks. Add two New Jersey Nets to that (Derrick Coleman, Kenny Anderson), and that left only four spots for the other 11 teams to fill. It is usually unlikely a team will have two, let alone three all-stars on their roster in the same year, so this was a pretty memorable factoid.

Answer: Dave Cowens

Cowens was selected 4th overall in the 1970 draft, while Sura was the 17th overall pick in 1995, Charlie Ward was taken 26th overall, and while Joe Smith was taken #1 Overall, he attended the University of Maryland, not Florida State.

Answer: Golden State Warriors

A Rookie of the Year Award is an excellent accomplishment for the individual but rarely does that turn into an NBA championship for the team. Twice in the first 50 years of the NBA it happened. In 1957 the Boston Celtics traded Ed Macaulay and Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks for the draft rights to center Bill Russell, and Boston used its own pick to select forward Tom Heinsohn of Holy Cross. Boston won its first title that year behind the play of the two rookies as Tom Heinsohn took home the Rookie of the Year award over Bill Russell. In 1975, the Golden State Warriors drafted UCLA standout forward Jamaal (then Keith) Wilkes and guard Phil Smith of San Francisco. These two players added to an already deep team which included NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Golden State won the title that year and Keith Wilkes won the Rookie of the Year award.

Answer: Baltimore Bullets

Their championship in 1948 was part of the BAA, which the NBA later recognized as their championships. The name Bullets refers to the shells and weapons the country used during the period of wars before and after the club was created. Many do not remember that the Washington Wizards are actually such an old team. Perhaps that's because most of these other three have much more eloquent histories.

Answer: Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe Mutombo was the fourth overall pick of the 1991 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets.

Answer: Pat Riley

This was Riley's 3rd Coach of the Year award.

Answer: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem had won it 6 times.

Answer: Alvin Robertson

Robertson, a guard for the Spurs, went on to several succesful years after this award.