A Decade Of...NBA MVPs Trivia Quiz

Answer: 11

The first player to achieve this was Bob Pettit (1959) while the second was Bill Russell, who won his second MVP in 1961. Wilt Chamberlain won the second of his four MVPs in 1966, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won his second in 1972. The 1980s was a popular decade for multiple MVP winners, with Moses Malone (1982), Larry Bird (1985) and Magic Johnson (1989) each winning their second MVP in that decade. Michael Jordan won his second MVP in 1991, while Karl Malone won his second in 1999. Tim Duncan was the first man in the 21st century to achieve the honour (2003) while Steve Nash won back-to-back MVPs in 2005 and 2006.

James' minutes increased greatly in the 2009-10 season as did his production. He averaged 29.7 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game and 8.6 assists per game while shooting at 50%. However, James struggled to make an impact in that year's NFL playoffs, losing in the second round to the Boston Celtics. That off-season, James joined the Miami Heat for what would become the most successful spell in his career.

Answer: 22 years, 6 months

Rose was born on 4 October 1988 and was given the award on 3 May 2011, meaning he was 22 years and 6 months old when he won the award. The previous holder of the record was 23 years and 2 months old.

The 2010-11 season was the pinnacle of Rose's career. He achieved his first career triple-double on 17 January 2011 and that season saw Rose become only the third player since 1972 to record 2,000 points and 600 assists in a single NBA season. (Alongside LeBron James and Michael Jordan) The Bulls also performed well, registering an NBA-best 62-20 record. The team was eventually eliminated by LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, losing the series in five games.

Answer: 30 points per game

James averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 0.7 blocks per game. These stats stayed at a high level in the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.

The 2011-12 season arguably moved James from being an NBA star to an NBA legend. That year saw him win his first NBA championship, his third NBA MVP and win his first NBA Finals MVP award. His 2012 postseason is considered by many fans and analysts to be one of the finest in NBA history and he was the unanimous NBA Finals MVP after the Heat defeated the Thunder 4-1 in the 2012 NBA Finals.

Answer: Carmelo Anthony

Out of the 121 votes cast for NBA MVP in the 2012-13 season, James received 120 votes, with Anthony receiving the only other MVP vote. James played at a sensational level yet again, averaging 26.8 points per game while also registering 7.3 assists per game and 8 rebounds per game. With this award, James joined an exclusive club of NBA players with four MVPs, becoming only the fifth player to achieve this honor. (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan)

This was a great season for James, who helped the Heat achieve a 27-game winning streak during the 2012-13 season, the third best winning streak in NBA history at the time. The Heat also retained their NBA Championship from the 2011-12 season, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. He won NBA Finals MVP for a second straight year.

Answer: Mr. Unreliable

The 2013-14 season had many high points for Durant. He scored a career-high 54 points in a January 2014 game against the Golden State Warriors and in April of that same year he surpassed Michael Jordan's record of consecutive games with 25 points or more with 41. He averaged 32 points per game, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.

Despite his superb play in the regular season, Durant struggled to take this form to the 2014 postseason. This was most apparent in Game 4 of the first round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Durant scored with just 24% of his field goals. After falling behind 3-2, The Oklahoman referred to Durant as "Mr. Unreliable". If the newspaper was trying to get a reaction out of the MVP, it certainly worked as Durant scored 36 points in a Game 6 victory. Oklahoma eventually won the series in seven games but lost to the Spurs in six games in the Western Conference Finals.

Answer: 17

The Warriors' appointment of Steve Kerr in 2014 was a huge turning point in Curry's career. Curry broke his own record for three-pointers during a single season and was the leading vote receiver in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game. The Warriors, who ended the season with an NBA-best 67 wins, tended to win games with such dominance that Curry sat for 17 entire fourth quarters, which while detrimental to his scoring totals, demonstrated both Curry's dominance and that of the Warriors.

Curry carried this incredible form to the 2014-15 playoffs, becoming the first player to register six three-pointers and six steals in an NBA game during the Conference Semi-Finals against the Memphis Grizzlies. During that series, he also scored a playoff career-high eight three-pointers in Game 6. The 2015 playoffs saw Curry break the record for most threes in a single postseason, and while he didn't set the world alight in the 2015 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, he still helped the Warriors win their first NBA title in 40 years.

Answer: Reggie Miller

The 50-40-90 club is the name given to a player who throughout the entire NBA season averages 50% on field goal attempts, 40% from three point attempts and 90% from the free throw line. Curry was the seventh player to achieve this, following in the footsteps of Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant. Malcolm Brogdon became the eighth player to join the club in the 2018-19 season.

Curry suffered an injury during the second round of the playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers, affecting his form during the rest of the NBA playoffs. While Curry helped the Warriors to an all-time NBA-record 73-9 finish, the Warriors lost in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Answer: Denver Nuggets

The record belonged to Oscar Robertson, who registered 41 triple doubles during the 1961-62 season. Westbrook registered his 32nd of the 2016-17 season during a game against the Utah Jazz on 11 March 2017, giving him the second most triple doubles in a season. He surpassed Robertson during a game against the Denver Nuggets on 9 April.

Westbrook also had a streak of seven straight games with a triple double, the best such streak since Michael Jordan had seven straight triple doubles in 1989. Despite Westbrook's brilliance in the regular season, his Oklahoma City Thunder only managed to earn the sixth seed in the Western Conference and were eliminated in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

Answer: Kobe Bryant

On 20 December 2017, Harden scored 51 points in a 122-116 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Two days later, Harden scored 51 again as the Rockets lost 128-118 to the Los Angeles Clippers. Harden became the first player to score 50 or more in consecutive games since Bryant did so in four straight games in March 2007.

Harden and the Rockets had a record-breaking season. The Rockets won 60 games for the first time in franchise history, ending the 2017-18 season with a 65-17 record. Harden also won the scoring title, averaging 30.4 points per game. Harden became the third player in Rockets' history to win the NBA MVP after Moses Malone (1979, 1982) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1994). Despite holding a 3-2 lead in the 2018 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, the Rockets were eliminated in seven games.

Answer: Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia had seven winners of the Euroscar award, with Dragan Kicanovic, Drazen Petrovic and Toni Kukoc winning the award twice while Drazen Dalipagic won the award once. (Petrovic and Kukoc would go on to win more Euroscar awards for Croatia) West and East Germany never won the award, though Dirk Nowitzki did win six Euroscars for unified Germany. The Soviet Union won it four times, with Arvydas Sabonis winning three Euroscars while Vladimir Tkachenko won it once.

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals, although the team lost in six games to that year's eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors. Giannis was the third youngest MVP in the last 40 years, becoming the fourth non-American to win the award. (Hakeem Olajuwon, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki).