Memphis Grizzlies Trivia
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99 free Memphis Grizzlies trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
This Memphis Grizzlies trivia quiz covers both halves of the franchise: the Vancouver expansion team that nearly became the Mounties, Bryant 'Big Country' Reeves and the 23-game losing streak, Steve Francis's refusal, the 2001 move to Memphis and the Pyramid, Pau Gasol and Jerry West, the 2011 upset of San Antonio, the Grit and Grind years of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen, and the Ja Morant era. Expect easy questions on the arena, the mascot and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the Otis Thorpe trade, the 140–79 loss and the documentaries about the Vancouver years. Uniforms, Growl Towels and 'Whoop That Trick' get their turn too. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so when you miss one you can trust the explanation. Play it solo or run it as a round at your next Grizz watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 99 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the name of the Grizzlies' home arena in Memphis, opened in 2004?
FedExForum
FedExForum, named for the delivery giant headquartered in Memphis, opened downtown in September 2004 and is shared with the University of Memphis Tigers.
Q 02Which name was first proposed for the Vancouver NBA franchise before objections forced a change?
Mounties
The club was first announced as the Vancouver Mounties, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police objected to the use of its nickname, so the owners switched to Grizzlies before the 1995 debut.
Q 03Which centre, nicknamed 'Big Country', was the Grizzlies' first-ever draft pick in 1995?
Bryant Reeves
Bryant Reeves, the Oklahoma State centre taken sixth in 1995, played all six of Vancouver's seasons, but chronic back pain ended his career before he played a regular-season game in Memphis.
Q 04Which unwanted NBA single-season record did the Vancouver Grizzlies set in 1995–96?
Most consecutive losses
Most consecutive losses: after winning their first two games ever, the Grizzlies lost 19 in a row, then dropped 23 straight late in the season, a single-season NBA record at the time.
Q 05Which 1999 draftee refused to play in Vancouver and was traded to Houston in an 11-player deal?
Steve Francis
Steve Francis forced the three-team, 11-player trade to Houston in August 1999 and shared Rookie of the Year there; in December 2008 the Rockets traded him to the Grizzlies, for whom he never played a game.
Q 06What were the Vancouver Grizzlies' original team colours?
Turquoise, bronze and red
Turquoise, bronze and red, with black trim, were announced with the name in August 1994; Memphis wore the turquoise look again in 2019–20 and the white version for its 30th anniversary in 2024–25.
Q 07Which Chicago businessman bought the Grizzlies for $160 million and moved them to Memphis?
Michael Heisley
Michael Heisley, a Chicago industrialist, bought the Grizzlies in 2000 for about $160 million, saying he had no intention of moving them; a year later he asked the NBA to let him relocate.
Q 08What left the Vancouver Grizzlies' owners losing money by 2001?
Weak dollar
Weak dollar: the Canadian currency's slide and falling attendance left the owners losing money; the buyer of 2000 had pledged to keep the team in Vancouver, yet the NBA approved its move in July 2001.
Q 09Who persuaded the Grizzlies to keep their name when the team weighed a change after moving to Memphis?
Fans and season-ticket holders
Fans and season-ticket holders were asked about a new name after the first Memphis season and overwhelmingly wanted to keep 'Grizzlies', even though no grizzly bears live anywhere near Tennessee.
Q 10Where did the Grizzlies play their first three seasons in Memphis?
The Pyramid
The Pyramid on the Mississippi riverfront later became a Bass Pro Shops megastore.
Q 11Who won Rookie of the Year in the Grizzlies' first season in Memphis?
Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol cost the Grizzlies their franchise star in a draft-night trade with Atlanta, then averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds to win Rookie of the Year in the team's first Memphis season.
Q 12Which Hall of Fame Laker became the Grizzlies' GM in 2002 and won Executive of the Year two years later?
Jerry West
Jerry West left the Lakers for a franchise that had never had a winning season; within two years Memphis jumped from 23 wins to 50 and he was voted 2004 Executive of the Year.
Q 13The Grizzlies' 2003 first-round pick, worth Anthony, Bosh or Wade, had been traded in 1997 for which player?
Otis Thorpe
Q 21What nickname described the Grizzlies' defence-first, paint-heavy style of the 2010s?
Grit and Grind
Grit and Grind was the label for the bruising teams that reached seven straight playoffs from 2011 to 2017, and it gave the team's home arena its nickname, the Grindhouse.
Q 22Which top seed did the eighth-seed Grizzlies upset in six games in 2011?
San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs held the West's best record, yet lost in six to a Memphis team that had never won a playoff game before the series; only one eighth seed had previously won a best-of-seven.
Q 23Which 34-year-old technology billionaire became the Grizzlies' controlling owner in 2012?
Robert Pera
Otis Thorpe played only 47 games for Vancouver before being traded on; the protected pick finally conveyed as the second overall choice of 2003, which Detroit spent on Darko Miličić.
Q 14Who won 2004 Coach of the Year after leading the Grizzlies to their first playoff berth and 50 wins?
Hubie Brown
Hubie Brown took over a winless team eight games into 2002–03; a season later he won 50 games, delivered the franchise's first winning record and playoff berth, and was voted Coach of the Year.
Q 15How many straight playoff games did the Grizzlies lose before their first postseason win, in 2011?
12
12 straight losses came in three first-round sweeps, in 2004, 2005 and 2006; when Memphis finally won a playoff game in 2011, it went on to take the series as an eighth seed.
Q 16Which newly drafted forward did the Grizzlies get from Houston in the 2006 trade for Shane Battier?
Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay, picked eighth by Houston that June, spent seven seasons in Memphis before the team flipped him to Toronto in a 2013 three-team deal that brought Tayshaun Prince.
Q 17Which college did Mike Conley lead to the 2007 national title game before the Grizzlies drafted him?
Ohio State
Ohio State lost that final to Florida with freshmen Mike Conley and Greg Oden; Memphis, holding the best lottery odds after a 22–60 season, slid to fourth in the draft and took Conley there.
Q 18The 2008 trade that sent the Grizzlies' franchise star to the Lakers brought back the draft rights to which future All-Star?
Marc Gasol
Marc Gasol was the younger brother of Pau, the star Memphis had just traded away; he became a three-time All-Star and the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year.
Q 19Which centre did the Grizzlies draft right after Blake Griffin in 2009, later trading him for Shane Battier?
Hasheem Thabeet
Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 Connecticut centre picked right behind Griffin in 2009, was demoted to the D-League in his rookie year and sent to Houston for Shane Battier in February 2011.
Q 20Which superstar guard signed with the Grizzlies in 2009 but left the team after only three games?
Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson signed a one-year deal in September 2009, played three road games off the bench, then left unhappy with a reserve role and was waived that November without ever playing in Memphis.
Robert Pera, founder of a wireless-networking company, was approved as owner in October 2012; in his first season the Grizzlies won a club-record 56 games and reached their first conference finals.
Q 24Which team did the Grizzlies beat to reach their first conference finals, in 2013?
Thunder
Oklahoma City Thunder, the West's top seed, had beaten Memphis in seven games at the same stage in 2011; this time the Grizzlies won in five, then were swept in the conference finals.
Q 25Zach Randolph was suspended for Game 7 of the 2014 first round for punching which Thunder centre?
Steven Adams
Steven Adams took the punch late in Game 6; without the suspended Randolph, Memphis lost Game 7 and a series in which four straight games had gone to overtime.
Q 26Which two departures in the summer of 2017 closed the door on the Grizzlies' defence-first era?
Zach Randolph and Tony Allen
Zach Randolph and Tony Allen left as free agents that summer, for Sacramento and New Orleans; after seven straight playoff runs, Memphis lost 60 games the next season.
Q 27Which team handed the Grizzlies a franchise-worst 61-point defeat in March 2018?
Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte Hornets won 140–79 that night against an injury-hit team on its way to 22–60; less than four years later Memphis set the NBA record the other way, beating Oklahoma City by 73.
Q 28To which team was the Grizzlies' Defensive Player of the Year centre traded in February 2019?
Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors won the 2019 NBA title four months after the trade, with him at centre; Memphis sent Mike Conley to Utah that summer, ending an era.
Q 29Who was drafted just before the Grizzlies' Ja Morant in 2019?
Zion Williamson
Zion Williamson went first to New Orleans, but a knee injury delayed his debut until January 2020 and held him to 24 games, and Morant, taken 2nd, won Rookie of the Year.
Q 30Who was named the Grizzlies' head coach in June 2019?
Taylor Jenkins
Taylor Jenkins, a 34-year-old Milwaukee assistant when hired, won a franchise-record 250 games, yet was fired with nine games left in 2024–25 and the team at 44–29.