Los Angeles Lakers
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8correct to beat the crowd
This Lakers trivia quiz runs through the whole franchise in 98 free questions with answers: why a Los Angeles team is named after lakes, George Mikan and the Minneapolis titles, the move west in 1960, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West's decade of losing to Boston, Wilt and the 33-game streak, Kareem's arrival, Jerry Buss and Showtime, Magic and Riley and Worthy, the Shaq-and-Kobe three-peat under Phil Jackson, the Gasol titles, Kobe's 81 and his 60-point goodbye, LeBron and the bubble, the Doncic trade, the Buss family sale, and the man who called 3,338 straight games. It starts with questions any fan can get and works up to numbers, dates and trade details for people who can name every retired jersey on the wall. It works for a game-night crowd, a family of Lakers fans, or a solo test before tip-off. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which big man did the Minneapolis Lakers select first in a 1947 dispersal draft, launching the first NBA dynasty?
George Mikan
George Mikan so dominated that in 1951 the NBA doubled the width of the lane, from six feet to twelve, to push him away from the basket; the Lakers won the next three titles anyway.
Q 02The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, two years after which team arrived in the city?
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers arrived in 1958; two years later the Lakers' owner took his struggling team out of Minneapolis, where attendance had fallen, and gave the NBA its first West Coast team.
Q 03Which Laker scored a then-record 71 points against the Knicks in November 1960?
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor had 71 points and 25 rebounds that night; a season later, called up by the Army, he could play only on weekend passes and still averaged 38 points a game.
Q 04Whose silhouette is generally understood to appear on the NBA's official logo?
Jerry West
Designer Alan Siegel based the 1969 NBA logo on a photo of Jerry West, who played all 14 of his seasons with the Lakers and later ran their front office.
Q 05What unique 1969 distinction does Jerry West hold?
Only Finals MVP from the losing team
Jerry West is the only Finals MVP from the losing team: he won the very first award in 1969 after a 42-point triple-double in a Game 7 defeat by Boston.
Q 06The Lakers acquired Wilt Chamberlain in July 1968 from which team?
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers traded the league's reigning MVP for Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers; four years later Wilt anchored the Lakers' first title in Los Angeles.
Q 07Kareem Abdul-Jabbar arrived in Los Angeles in 1975 in a trade with which team?
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at his own request: he had asked for a move to New York or Los Angeles, saying the Midwest did not fit his cultural needs.
Q 08How many regular-season MVP awards did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar win, an NBA record?
Six
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six MVP awards (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1980), one more than Bill Russell or Michael Jordan.
Q 09Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, the Kings and their arena for $67.5 million in 1979 from which owner?
Jack Kent Cooke
Jack Kent Cooke sold up to pay a record divorce settlement; the judge who ordered it, Joseph Wapner, later became television's judge on The People's Court.
Q 10The Lakers took Magic Johnson first overall in the 1979 draft out of which college?
Michigan State
Magic Johnson led Michigan State past Larry Bird's Indiana State in the 1979 NCAA final before the Lakers took him first overall.
Q 11In Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, rookie Magic Johnson filled in for the injured Kareem at which position?
Center
Center: with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out with a sprained ankle, the 20-year-old point guard jumped for the opening tip and scored 42 points to clinch the title in Philadelphia.
Q 12What nickname did the fast-breaking Lakers of the 1980s earn?
Showtime
Showtime paired Magic Johnson's fast break with owner Jerry Buss's idea of a game as a night out: he swapped the organist for a live band, created the Laker Girls and drew Hollywood stars to courtside.
Q 13Which word did the Lakers' coach trademark in 1989?
Three-peat
Three-peat was registered as a trademark of the coach's company in August 1989, two months after Detroit swept his Lakers in the Finals and ended their bid for a third straight title.
Q 21Who was named Finals MVP in all three of the Lakers' 2000-2002 championships?
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal, also the 2000 regular-season MVP, won all three Finals MVPs; his feud with Kobe Bryant ended with his trade to Miami in 2004.
Q 22Against which team did Kobe Bryant score 81 points on January 22, 2006?
Toronto Raptors
Kobe Bryant's 81 against the Toronto Raptors rescued a game the Lakers trailed by 18 in the third quarter; he scored 55 of his points after halftime.
Q 23Kobe Bryant scored 60 in his 2016 farewell game, then ended his speech with which two words?
Mamba out
'Mamba out' closed a night on which Kobe Bryant outscored Utah by himself, 23-21, in the fourth quarter to turn a deficit into a win.
Q 14The Lakers' eighth straight Finals loss to Boston came in 1984, when which Celtic was named Finals MVP?
Larry Bird
Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds as Boston won in seven games; a year later Magic Johnson's Lakers finally beat the Celtics in a Finals at the ninth attempt.
Q 15Which Laker won the NBA's regular-season MVP award in 2008?
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant won his only regular-season MVP in 2008, averaging 28.3 points as the Lakers went 57-25 and reached the Finals.
Q 16Which first-overall pick from North Carolina won Finals MVP with a Game 7 triple-double in 1988?
James Worthy
James Worthy had 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 7 against Detroit, the first triple-double of his career, living up to his nickname, Big Game James.
Q 17Retired with HIV, Magic Johnson returned for the 1992 All-Star Game and won what?
The game's MVP award
The game's MVP award went to Magic Johnson after he scored 25 points, handed out nine assists and sank the night's final shot, a long three-pointer.
Q 18The Lakers acquired 17-year-old Kobe Bryant in 1996 by trading which player to the team that drafted him?
Vlade Divac
Vlade Divac at first threatened to retire rather than leave Los Angeles; once he relented, the trade also helped clear the way for the Lakers to land that summer's biggest free agent.
Q 19Which team drafted Kobe Bryant, 13th overall, before trading him to Los Angeles?
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets made the pick on the Lakers' behalf: the trade was already arranged, after the Lakers' general manager watched the teenager work out and went looking for a pick to spend on him.
Q 20Which coach, fresh from six championships in Chicago, led the Lakers to three straight titles from 2000 to 2002?
Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson brought Tex Winter's triangle offence from Chicago and won five Lakers titles in two stints: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010.
Q 24The trade for which Spanish big man sent the Lakers to the 2008 Finals and 2009–10 titles?
Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol came from Memphis in February 2008 in a trade that sent the Grizzlies the draft rights to his younger brother Marc, who became an All-Star there.
Q 25The Lakers' 2020 championship was won inside a pandemic "bubble" at which location?
Walt Disney World, Florida
Walt Disney World, Florida, became a sealed campus for 22 teams: anyone who left without approval had to quarantine, and week after week the league reported zero positive tests among players inside.
Q 26The 2020 title was the Lakers' 17th, tying them at the time with which franchise?
Boston Celtics
Boston moved back ahead with its 18th in 2024; the two clubs own 35 of the league's championships between them.
Q 27In February 2025 the Lakers made a stunning trade with Dallas that brought in which star?
Luka Doncic
Luka Doncic was 25 and eight months removed from leading Dallas to the NBA Finals as the league's top scorer when the Mavericks sent him to the Lakers for Anthony Davis.
Q 28Which former player was hired as Lakers head coach in June 2024?
JJ Redick
JJ Redick had never coached above his son's youth team and was best known as a podcaster, co-hosting a show with the Lakers' own star, when he replaced the fired Darvin Ham.
Q 29In June 2025 the Buss family agreed to sell majority control of the Lakers to which Dodgers owner?
Mark Walter
Mark Walter, a minority owner since 2021, agreed to buy control at a valuation of about $10 billion, then a record for a sports team, with Jeanie Buss staying on as the Lakers' governor.
Q 30What milestone did Jeanie Buss reach when the Lakers won in 2020?
First female controlling owner to win an NBA title
Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to win an NBA title; she had taken control after her father Jerry died in 2013.