The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America, comprising 30 teams. The league is widely regarded as the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world, known for its high level of competition, global fan base and iconic players like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Fans of the NBA come from all over the world and love supporting their favorite team and repping their favorite player. How much of an NBA fan are you? Are you familiar with the history of the league, the many records broken or the stats of the top players? Find out here with these 52 NBA trivia questions.
NBA Trivia Questions and Answers
Q: Which NBA player has won the most MVP awards?
A: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 6 MVP awards.
Q: Who was the first player to be drafted straight out of high school?
A: Moses Malone, in the 1974 ABA Draft.
Q: Which team holds the record for the most wins in a single regular season?
A: The Golden State Warriors, with 73 wins in the 2015-2016 season.
Q: Who is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history?
A: LeBron James, with 40,474 points.
Q: Which player scored 100 points in a single NBA game?
A: Wilt Chamberlain, on March 2, 1962.
Q: What is the name of the NBA trophy awarded to the champions?
A: The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
Q: Which NBA team has the most championships?
A: The Boston Celtics with 18 championships.
Q: Who was the youngest player to score 30,000 points in his career?
A: LeBron James.
Q: Which player has the most career assists in NBA history?
A: John Stockton, with over 15,000 assists.
Q: Who is the only player to average a triple-double for an entire season, and how many times has he done it?
A: Oscar Robertson (once, 1961-1962) and Russell Westbrook (four times: 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2020-2021).
Q: Who was the first non-American player to be named NBA MVP?
A: Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994.
Q: Which player holds the record for most points scored in a single playoff game?
A: Michael Jordan, with 63 points against the Boston Celtics on April 20, 1986.
Q: What year was the NBA founded?
A: 1946.
Q: Who was the first player in NBA history to be unanimously voted MVP?
A: Stephen Curry, in the 2015-2016 season.
Q: Which NBA coach has the most career wins?
A: Gregg Popovich with 1,388 wins.
NBA History
Q: Who was the first player to score 70 points in an NBA game?
A: Elgin Baylor, scoring 71 points on November 15, 1960.
Q: Which team won the first NBA championship?
A: The Philadelphia Warriors, in 1947.
Q: Who was the first African American player to be drafted by an NBA team?
A: Chuck Cooper, drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1950.
Q: Which team was the first to go undefeated in an entire playoff run?
A: The Golden State Warriors, with a 16-1 record in the 2017 playoffs.
Q: Who was the first player in NBA history to be named MVP, Rookie of the Year and All-Star Game MVP in the same season?
A: Wilt Chamberlain, in the 1959-1960 season.
Q: Who was the first player to win the NBA Finals MVP award?
A: Jerry West, in 1969.
Q: Which team did the NBA’s first official game feature?
A: The New York Knickerbockers (Knicks) and the Toronto Huskies, on November 1, 1946.
Q: Who was the first coach to win an NBA championship with two different teams?
A: Alex Hannum, with the St. Louis Hawks in 1958 and the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967.
Q: Who was the first player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double?
A: Nate Thurmond, on October 18, 1974.
Q: Which NBA team drafted Larry Bird?
A: The Boston Celtics, in 1978.
Q: Which player holds the record for most consecutive games played in NBA history?
A: A.C. Green, with 1,192 consecutive games.
Q: Who was the first foreign-born player to be selected first overall in the NBA Draft?
A: Hakeem Olajuwon, from Nigeria, selected first overall in 1984.
Q: Which team holds the record for the longest winning streak in NBA history?
A: The Los Angeles Lakers, with 33 consecutive wins in the 1971-1972 season.
Q: Who is the player to be named to the most All-NBA Teams?
A: LeBron James.
NBA Trivia Questions on the NBA Finals and Championships
Q: Who holds the record for the most NBA Finals MVP awards?
A: Michael Jordan, with 6 Finals MVP awards.
Q: Which player has the most NBA championships as a player?
A: Bill Russell, with 11 championships.
Q: Who was the first player to win an NBA championship with three different teams?
A: John Salley (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers).
Q: Which NBA team has the longest consecutive championship streak?
A: The Boston Celtics, with 8 consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966.
Q: Which team was the first to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals to win the championship?
A: The Cleveland Cavaliers, in 2016.
Q: Who was the youngest player to win an NBA Finals MVP?
A: Magic Johnson, at age 20, in 1980.
Q: Which team won the NBA Finals in the 1998-1999 season, shortened by a lockout?
A: The San Antonio Spurs.
Q: Which player hit the famous “last shot” in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals?
A: Michael Jordan, against the Utah Jazz.
Q: Who was the first European player to win the NBA Finals MVP award?
A: Tony Parker of France in 2007.
Q: Which team did the Golden State Warriors defeat to win their first championship in 40 years in 2015?
A: The Cleveland Cavaliers.
Q: Who made the game-winning shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals?
A: Kyrie Irving, for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
MVPs, Champions and Hall of Famers NBA Trivia Questions
Q: Who was the first player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame?
A: George Mikan, inducted in 1959.
Q: Who was the first European-born player to win the NBA MVP award?
A: Dirk Nowitzki, in 2007.
Q: Which player has the most career rebounds in NBA history?
A: Wilt Chamberlain, with 23,924 rebounds.
Q: Who is the youngest player to win the NBA MVP award?
A: Derrick Rose, at age 22, in 2011.
Q: Which player holds the record for most points in a single NBA game?
A: Wilt Chamberlain, with 100 points on March 2, 1962.
Q: Who was the first player to win the NBA Finals MVP award without winning the championship?
A: Jerry West, in 1969.
Q: Which Hall of Fame player is known as “The Mailman”?
A: Karl Malone.
Q: Which player won NBA championships with both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat?
A: Shaquille O’Neal.
Q: Who was the first player to be named NBA MVP, Finals MVP and All-Star MVP in the same season?
A: Willis Reed, in 1970.
Q: Which player holds the record for most three-pointers made in NBA history?
A: Stephen Curry.
Q: Who was the first African American basketball player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?
A: Chuck Cooper.
Q: Which player won back-to-back NBA MVP awards in 2005 and 2006?
A: Steve Nash.
