90s NBA Trivia
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49 free 90s NBA trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
This 90s NBA trivia quiz covers the decade from the Bad Boy Pistons' repeat in 1990 to Tim Duncan's first title in the lockout-shortened 1999 season. Every Finals is here: Jordan's first ring against Magic, the shrug against Portland, Paxson's three-peat shot, Hakeem Olajuwon's two titles while Jordan played baseball, the 72-10 Bulls, the Flu Game and the Last Shot over Bryon Russell. Beyond Chicago there are questions on the Dream Team in Barcelona, Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds, Shaq and Penny in Orlando, the Admiral, Grandmama, Latrell Sprewell's suspension, the Raptors and Grizzlies expansion, the loaded 1996 draft, Space Jam, Dennis Rodman's seven straight rebounding titles and the 1998-99 lockout. Difficulty runs from easy questions for casual fans to details only people who watched NBC every Sunday will remember. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the Finals, seasons and players, and each question quotes the sentence that supports it.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which team opened the decade by repeating as champions, beating Portland in the 1990 Finals?
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons clinched it in Game 5 when Vinnie Johnson, 'the Microwave', hit a jumper with 0.7 seconds left, a shot that briefly got him renamed '007'.
Q 02Whom did Michael Jordan's Bulls beat in the 1991 Finals for his first championship?
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers actually won the opener in Chicago, 93-91, before the Bulls took the next four games, the last three of them in Los Angeles.
Q 03What did Jordan famously do after his sixth first-half three-pointer in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals?
Shrugged
Shrugged: Jordan turned to the broadcast table to show his own surprise, on the way to 35 first-half points that broke Elgin Baylor's record of 33.
Q 04Whose game-winning three-pointer in Game 6 of the 1993 Finals clinched the Bulls' first three-peat?
John Paxson
John Paxson was left open when Horace Grant passed out of the post; his three with 3.9 seconds left made it 99-98, and Grant then blocked Kevin Johnson's final shot.
Q 05Which Phoenix Suns star was regular-season MVP in 1993?
Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley won it in his first season after a trade from Philadelphia, leading the Suns to a league-best 62 wins and into the Finals against Chicago.
Q 06Which baseball club signed Jordan to a minor-league contract after he quit the NBA in 1993?
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox shared an owner with the Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf; Jordan said he was chasing the dream of his late father, who had pictured him as a big-league ballplayer.
Q 07For which minor league team did Jordan play in 1994?
Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons kept Jordan for a full Double-A season, in which he hit .202 with 30 stolen bases; that autumn he joined the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.
Q 08Which team won the 1994 NBA Finals over Patrick Ewing's Knicks?
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets trailed the series 3-2, then won Games 6 and 7 at home, the clincher 90-84, for the franchise's first title.
Q 09Whose last-second three-point attempt did Olajuwon block in Game 6 of the 1994 Finals?
John Starks
John Starks' shot would have won New York the title; instead the block forced a Game 7, in which he made only 2 of his 18 attempts and the Knicks lost.
Q 10Whom did the Rockets sweep 4-0 in the 1995 NBA Finals?
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic were swept in their first Finals; Nick Anderson missed four free throws in the final seconds of Game 1, which went to overtime.
Q 11Which center did Orlando take with the first overall pick in the 1992 draft?
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal twice tore down backboard supports with dunks as a rookie, against New Jersey and Phoenix, and the NBA reinforced its baskets before the next season.
Q 12What regular-season record did the 1995-96 Bulls post, then the best in NBA history?
72–10
72–10 broke the 1971-72 Lakers' mark of 69 wins and stood for 20 years, until the 2015-16 Warriors won 73 games but, unlike the Bulls, lost the Finals.
Q 13Which duo lost to the Bulls in both the 1997 and 1998 Finals?
John Stockton and Karl Malone
Q 21Which courtside celebrity did Reggie Miller jaw with during his 25-point quarter in the 1994 East finals?
Spike Lee
Spike Lee, the filmmaker and Knicks superfan, traded barbs with Miller as he scored 25 in the fourth quarter for a 3-2 lead, yet New York won the next two games and the series.
Q 22Which two Canadian cities received NBA expansion teams in 1995?
Toronto and Vancouver
Toronto and Vancouver joined for 1995-96; the Raptors stayed, while the Grizzlies never won 30% of their games in Vancouver and moved to Memphis in 2001.
Q 23Which center was the first foreign-born player to win the NBA MVP award?
Hakeem Olajuwon
John Stockton and Karl Malone lost 4-2 to Chicago in both 1997 and 1998; Stockton's buzzer-beating three against Houston had sent Utah to its first Finals.
Q 14Where did Jordan play the 'Flu Game' of the 1997 Finals?
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City saw an ailing Jordan score 38 and bury the tie-breaking three-pointer with 25 seconds left for a 90-88 win and a 3-2 series lead.
Q 15Over which Jazz defender did Jordan hit 'The Last Shot' to win the 1998 Finals?
Bryon Russell
Bryon Russell was the defender Jordan crossed over, possibly with a push-off, before sinking the 20-footer for an 87-86 lead with 5.2 seconds left.
Q 16Who coached the Bulls to every one of their 1990s championships?
Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson had been Doug Collins's assistant until the Bulls fired Collins in 1989; he then installed Tex Winter's triangle offense, which spread the scoring beyond Jordan.
Q 17Which team won the 1999 title in the lockout-shortened season, beating an eighth-seeded Knicks team?
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs got to the Finals after Sean Elliott's 'Memorial Day Miracle', a late sideline three-pointer that beat Portland 86-85 in the West finals.
Q 18At which Olympics did the original 'Dream Team' win gold?
1992 Barcelona
1992 Barcelona was the first Games open to NBA players: FIBA voted to admit professionals in 1989, months after a US college team settled for bronze in Seoul.
Q 19Which magazine put the 'Dream Team' nickname on its cover in February 1991?
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated used the label on its February 18, 1991 cover, posing five NBA stars of its own choosing seven months before any player had been picked.
Q 20How many points did Reggie Miller score in under nine seconds against the 1995 Knicks?
Eight
Reggie Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds: two three-pointers, the second after stealing the inbounds pass, and two free throws, turning 105-99 into a 107-105 Pacers win.
Hakeem Olajuwon, born in Lagos and a U.S. citizen from 1993, won the 1994 MVP and later played for the United States at the 1996 Olympics.
Q 24Which forward led the NBA in rebounding for seven straight seasons in the 1990s?
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman won all seven rebounding titles from 1991-92 to 1997-98 with Detroit, San Antonio and Chicago, though he had entered the NBA as a second-round pick, 27th overall.
Q 25Which 1996 film starred Michael Jordan as himself?
Space Jam
Space Jam grew out of 'Hare Jordan', a 1992 Super Bowl commercial for Nike that first teamed Jordan with Bugs Bunny.
Q 26Which center won the 1995 NBA MVP award?
David Robinson
David Robinson, the 1995 MVP, had been drafted first overall in 1987 but served two years in the Navy before debuting in 1989-90.
Q 27Which team's 'Run TMC' trio of Hardaway, Mullin and Richmond lit up the early 1990s?
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors' Run TMC of Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond ran Don Nelson's up-tempo offense until Richmond was traded to Sacramento in 1991.
Q 28Which three players from the 1996 draft class went on to win NBA MVP awards?
Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and Steve Nash
Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and Steve Nash won MVP in 2008, 2001 and 2005-06 respectively; Bryant was the 13th pick and Nash the 15th.
Q 29Which Warriors guard was suspended for choking coach P. J. Carlesimo in 1997?
Latrell Sprewell
Latrell Sprewell was suspended for 68 games after the December 1997 attack; the Warriors voided his contract, but an arbitrator reinstated it.
Q 30Which Charlotte Hornets forward played 'Grandmama' in a 1993 episode of Family Matters?
Larry Johnson
Larry Johnson first played 'Grandmama' in a popular series of Converse commercials; in the Family Matters episode the character becomes Steve Urkel's teammate in a basketball tournament.