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60 free Atlanta Hawks trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Atlanta Hawks trivia quiz follows the franchise across four cities: 38 days in Buffalo, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks under a young Red Auerbach, four Milwaukee seasons, Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks and their 1958 championship, and finally Atlanta from 1968 onward, from Pete Maravich and the Omni to Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Mookie Blaylock, Dikembe Mutombo, the 60-win 2015 team and the Trae Young era. Expect a mix of easy questions (which arena, which colours), classic trivia (who was traded for Bill Russell, who dunked over whom) and hard ones for lifers, such as why the Omni rusted, whose number 59 hangs in the rafters, and where the Hawks played 12 'home' games in 1985. Uniforms, rivalries with Boston and Orlando and front-office moves all get a turn. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so you can trust the explanation when you miss one. Play it solo, or use it as a round at your next watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What name did the Hawks' home arena take in 2018 under a new naming-rights deal?
State Farm Arena
It opened as Philips Arena in 1999 and was renamed when State Farm bought the naming rights in 2018.
Q 02The Hawks franchise began life in 1946 in which city?
Buffalo
The Buffalo Bisons lasted just 38 days before moving to the Tri-Cities area of Illinois and Iowa.
Q 03What was the team called after moving to Moline, Illinois, in 1946?
Tri-Cities Blackhawks
The Tri-Cities were Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport in Iowa; the team played at the 6,000-seat Wharton Field House.
Q 04How many days did the franchise spend in its original city before moving on?
38
The Bisons needed 3,600 fans a game to break even and struggled to draw even 1,000.
Q 05Which legendary coach briefly led the then Tri-Cities franchise in the NBA's first season?
Red Auerbach
Auerbach left after one season and went on to build the Celtics dynasty that beat the Hawks in three of four Finals meetings.
Q 06Which future Celtics great did the Blackhawks draft in 1950 but fail to sign?
Bob Cousy
When the Stags folded, Cousy ended up in Boston through a dispersal draft.
Q 07In which city did the Hawks win their only NBA championship?
St. Louis
All four of the franchise's Finals appearances came during its St. Louis years, from 1955 to 1968.
Q 08In what year did the Hawks win their lone NBA title?
1958
They beat Boston in six games, avenging a double-overtime Game 7 loss to the Celtics the year before.
Q 09Which team did the Hawks face in every one of their four NBA Finals appearances?
Boston Celtics
Boston won three of the four series; the Hawks' 1958 title interrupted the Celtics' run of championships.
Q 10Which Hawks forward won the NBA's first official Most Valuable Player award in 1956?
Bob Pettit
Pettit won a second MVP in 1959 and scored 50 points in the title-clinching game of the 1958 Finals.
Q 11Which future 11-time champion did the Hawks draft second in 1956 and immediately trade to Boston?
Bill Russell
In return the Hawks got Cliff Hagan and Ed Macauley, both future Hall of Famers, and won the 1958 title with them.
Q 12How many points did the Hawks' star forward score in the title-clinching game of the 1958 NBA Finals?
50
His 50-point Game 6 sealed the 4–2 series win over Boston.
Q 13Which St. Louis arena did owner Ben Kerner grow tired of, prompting the eventual move to Atlanta?
Kiel Auditorium
The 33-year-old building seated only 10,000, and the city refused Kerner's demands for a building of his own.
Q 21Which 5-foot-7 Hawks guard won the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest?
Spud Webb
He beat a Hawks teammate in the final, at a venue in Dallas.
Q 22In which two years did the Hawks' 'Human Highlight Film' win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest?
1985 and 1990
His duels with Michael Jordan, especially the 1988 contest in Chicago, are among the event's most famous.
Q 23Which guard, acquired from New Jersey in 1992, leads the Hawks in career steals?
Mookie Blaylock
He also inspired the original name of the band that became Pearl Jam.
Q 14In which year did the Hawks move to Atlanta?
1968
Kerner sold the team to developer Tom Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders on May 3, 1968.
Q 15On which university's campus did the Hawks play their first four Atlanta seasons?
Georgia Tech
They used Alexander Memorial Coliseum until the Omni opened in 1972, and returned there while Philips Arena was built.
Q 16The Hawks' new arena of 1972 was built to house them and which NHL expansion team?
Atlanta Flames
The Hawks adopted the Flames' white, gold and red colours; the Flames later moved to Calgary.
Q 17The Hawks held the first and third picks in 1975, but both signed with which ABA team?
Denver Nuggets
David Thompson and Marvin Webster never played a game for Atlanta.
Q 18Which cable-TV entrepreneur and Braves owner bought the Hawks in 1977?
Ted Turner
His ownership was credited with keeping both the Hawks and Braves in the Deep South.
Q 19Which Georgia alumnus and future franchise scoring leader joined the Hawks in 1982?
Dominique Wilkins
'The Human Highlight Film' received a statue outside the arena in 2015.
Q 20Because of poor attendance, the Hawks played 12 home games of the 1984–85 season in which city?
New Orleans
Promoter Barry Mendelson paid $1.2 million for the games at Lakefront Arena, where the Hawks went 6–6.
Q 24Which Hawks coach became the NBA's all-time leader in coaching wins with victory number 939 in 1994–95?
Lenny Wilkens
He had also played for the St. Louis Hawks and was Coach of the Year with Atlanta in 1994.
Q 25Which forward came to Atlanta in the 1994 trade of its all-time top scorer to the Clippers?
Danny Manning
He left for Phoenix in free agency after the season, making the deal a disaster for Atlanta.
Q 26Which shot-blocking center signed a $55 million Hawks deal in 1996 and won back-to-back DPOY awards?
Dikembe Mutombo
He was traded to Philadelphia in 2001 for a package that included Theo Ratliff and Toni Kukoč.
Q 27Why did the Hawks' 1972–97 arena deteriorate so quickly that it was demolished after just 25 years?
Its weathering steel never stopped rusting in Atlanta's humid climate
The steel was meant to rust into a protective seal, but the designers had not reckoned with the subtropical humidity.
Q 28Which Spanish star did the Hawks draft third in 2001, then send to Memphis on draft night?
Pau Gasol
The trade brought Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Atlanta; Gasol became a two-time NBA champion with the Lakers.
Q 29Which All-Star forward played one game for the Hawks in 2004 before being sent to Detroit?
Rasheed Wallace
He scored 20 points in that game and won a championship with the Pistons that spring.
Q 30How many games did the Hawks win in 2004–05, the fewest in the NBA that season?
13
That was five fewer than the expansion Charlotte Bobcats; the same year Josh Smith won the dunk contest.