Ideal Situations Quiz | NBA Players

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The year was 1980, the Celtics had the number 1 overall draft pick and were willing to trade it away. They ended up getting two Hall of Fame players who would spend more than a decade in Boston. Who did the Warriors draft with the top pick?

Answer: Joe Barry Carroll

Boston got Robert Parish and the number three draft pick, which they turned into Kevin McHale. Joe Barry Carroll went to the Warriors and had a terrible career.

McHale, Parish and Larry Bird combined to win three championships in Boston during their time together. It was one of the most dominant front courts in NBA history.

2. Nicknamed "The Pearl", what man was traded to the Knicks in 1971 to team up with five other future Hall of Fame players?

Answer: Earl Monroe

HOF players on the 1971-72 Knicks team included Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Willis Reed and Monroe.

Monroe was traded by the Bullets after he got in an argument with the team owner.

He and Frazier were both point guards, but he moved to shooting guard so they could both play at the same time.

3. Not one but two players joined the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010 to give the team a trio of all-stars. Who was the star player who had already won a championship with the Heat?

Answer: Dwyane Wade

Wade, James and Bosch were all members of the 2003 NBA draft class, and all had been all-stars for most of their careers. The three had teamed up at the 2008 Olympics and become good friends.

When Bosch and James both became free agents, they joined their friend in Miami to build a superteam. In four years together they won two championships and made the finals three times.

4. Which point guard, who once averaged a triple-double for the season, was traded from Cincinnati to Milwaukee in 1970, where he paired with Lew Alcindor to win 66 games?

Answer: Oscar Robertson

For a long time Robertson was considered the best point guard to ever play the game; unfortunately for him, the player with that distinction before him was Bob Cousy. Cousy was coaching the Cincinnati Royals in 1970 and the two clashed a lot.

He was traded for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk, two forgettable players, and went on to have another five outstanding seasons with the Bucks.

His first season he paired up with Lew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to win 66 games and the NBA title.

The pairing of Robertson and Alcindor made that Bucks team one of the greatest in league history.

5. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant couldn't stand playing with each other anymore in Los Angeles by the 2004 season. O'Neal was then traded to which team where he would win his fourth championship?

Answer: Miami

O'Neal played for all four franchises after leaving the Lakers, but he won his fourth title with the Heat.

He teamed up with fellow superstar Dwyane Wade to win a title in 2006, before he was once again dealt away, this time to Phoenix. After a year and change in Phoenix he moved on to Cleveland where he teamed up with LeBron James and finally to Boston where he closed out his career.

O'Neal played 19 seasons and almost every season he played with at least one other superstar.

6. The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors became the best regular season team in league history when they won 73 games. What former MVP did they add to the roster in the off season?

Answer: Kevin Durant

Durant broke into the league as a 19-year-old rookie and had played his entire career with the Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder franchise. He was a seven-time all-star and the 2014 league MVP when he became a free agent in 2016.

The Warriors, who already had three all-stars in Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, added him to the roster after losing the NBA championship in seven games. Curry was the 2015 and 2016 MVP winner.

7. What year did Kevin Garnett join Ray Allen and Paul Pierce on the Celtics to form a "Big 3"?

Answer: 2007

Garnett, who was three years removed from winning the MVP award, hadn't made the playoffs in three years.

With the trio of all-stars, the Celtics went on to win the NBA title that season, beating the Lakers. The same two teams would also meet in the 2010 finals with the Lakers winning.

The Celtics won a league-best 66 games in the regular season.

8. Wilt Chamberlain went to the Lakers in 1968 after winning back-to-back MVP awards. What team did he leave to join two other superstars in LA?

Answer: Philadelphia

Chamberlain was the best player in the league by a wide margin. At 31 years old he was starting to slow down a bit, but was still the reigning MVP.

After his trade to the Lakers, they went to the NBA finals three straight years, but only won a single title.

He joined future Hall of Famers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor with the Lakers.

9. 1982 saw the 76ers create a superteam with Moses Malone and Julius Erving. Which of these two players joined the team that summer?

Answer: Malone

Moses Malone was one of the best power forward/centers of his era. He was a two-time MVP with the Rockets before signing as a free agent with the 76ers in 1982.

He joined fellow former MVP Julius Erving on the team that went on to win the NBA title in the 1982-83 season.

10. Clyde Drexler retired in 1998 and nearly ended the "superteam" in Houston where he teamed with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley. What future Hall of Famer joined the team for the 1998-99 season?

Answer: Scottie Pippen

Pippen, a six-time NBA champion in Chicago, was traded to Houston following Michael Jordan's second retirement. The team in Chicago (a superteam itself that was not featured in this quiz as it had Pippen, Jordan and Dennis Rodman) was broken up with all three of its superstars leaving.

Pippen would play just one season in Houston before moving on to Portland and later back to Chicago to end his career.

Source: Author Shadowmyst2004

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Fifiona81 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Ideal Situations Trivia Quiz

This quiz deals with "superstar" players leaving one team for a situation they felt was better for them. Often times that meant signing with a team to build a "superteam" or a cast of all-stars. Trades that end up making a "superteam" are also included.

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