About This Quiz
When it's nearing the end of the regular season in the NBA and an NBA star is on the verge of breaking a single-season record, are you rooting for them to make the record books or are you sticking with the traditional holders? Do you even know who the single-season record holders are in the NBA? Here's a quiz where you can find out!
There is certainly something special about watching an athlete go after a record as they try to seed themselves in the history of their sport. Whether they end up actually breaking the record or not, it's the ride that makes the entire experience fun for both fans and players. Some fans are rooting for old records to be smashed, while other fans are praying their favorite retired player will remain at the top of the list.
Are you an expert on the records in the NBA, particularly the single-season records held by some of the greatest superstars to ever take the court? Are you ready to test that knowledge and see if some of those records you remember being broken years ago still hold up?
If you're up for the challenge, see if you can set your own personal record by acing this quiz!
Walt Bellamy was traded in the middle of the 1968-69 season from the Knicks to the Pistons. Since the teams had offset schedules, Bellamy was able to play in more games than he would have otherwise.
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Drafted out of Houston, Elvin Hayes was taken with the first pick in the 1968 NBA draft. Hayes went on to be named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1969.
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While playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the Knicks in 1962. It's the most points ever scored in a single game.
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Steve Johnson switched between the center and power forward positions throughout his NBA career. He was never a great rebounder, and his teams often suffered because of it.
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Kyle Korver joined the Cavaliers in the middle of the 2016-17 season. He helped the team reach two NBA Finals, but the Cavs lost both times to the Golden State Warriors.
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Anthony Morrow shot 42% from three-point range throughout his NBA regular season career. However, that dropped to 37% in the playoffs.
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Stephen Curry won his first NBA MVP in 2015 on his way to an NBA championship. He won the MVP again the next season but lost in the NBA Finals to the Cavaliers.
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Donovan Mitchell led the Utah Jazz to the playoffs his rookie season. His play lifted a Jazz team that had just lost their star player, Gordon Hayward, in the offseason.
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Jose Calderon played for Spain in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics. He won silver medals in his first two Olympic appearances and bronze in the 2016 Olympics.
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Jerry West won the 1969 NBA Finals MVP despite losing to the Celtics. He's the only NBA player to win the MVP in a losing effort.
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Wilt Chamberlain consistently averaged over 20 rebounds per game throughout his career. Even in his final season, Chamberlain pulled down over 18 rebounds per game.
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In the middle of his prime and looking for an NBA title, Moses Malone joined Julius Erving on the 76ers in 1982. They won the title together, and Malone was named the Finals MVP.
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Hakeem Olajuwon was a Nigerian-born NBA player. In college, he was recruited by several teams but decided to join the Houston Cougars because of the warm weather in Texas.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA MVPs throughout his career in the NBA. No other player has won more than five.
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John Stockton reached the NBA Finals twice with the Utah Jazz in the late '90s. However, he lost both matchups to the Chicago Bulls, who were led by Michael Jordan.
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Darryl Dawkins was well-known for his dunking ability. In 1979, he twice shattered NBA backboards, which is one of the reasons the NBA went to breakaway rims.
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Steve Johnson played only 12 seasons in the NBA. During those 12 years, he made the playoffs four times but never made it out of the first round.
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Alvin Robertson was selected with the seventh pick in the 1984 NBA draft. He was drafted behind future legends like Charles Barkley, Akeem Olajuwon, and Michael Jordan.
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Mark Eaton stood at 7 ft 4 in during his NBA career. His height made him a lethal defender who opposing teams struggled to score against.
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James Harden was named the NBA MVP in 2018. That season, he led the Houston Rockets to the Western Conference Finals, but they lost in seven games to the Golden State Warriors.
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Kobe Bryant finished his NBA career at the end of the 2016 season. In his final NBA game, Bryant put up 60 points at the age of 37.
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In 1966, Bill Russell was hired on as a player-coach for the Celtics. With his hire, he became the first African-American coach in the league.
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A four-time NBA scoring champion, Allen Iverson knew how to put the ball in the hoop. Throughout his playoff career, Iverson averaged over 29 points per game.
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John Starks is most well-known for a play referred to as "The Dunk." The play occurred in the 1993 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, where Starks dunked over Bulls power forward Horace Grant.
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Shaquille O'Neal has had as successful a career off the court as on the court. The former center has been an actor, philanthropist, and even a sheriff's deputy.
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Mark Jackson coached the Golden State Warriors from 2011 until 2014. A year after he was let go, the Warriors won the NBA championship.
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Nicknamed "The Big O," Oscar Robertson was the NBA assists leader six times during his career. He was named the NBA MVP in 1964.
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Unable to win a title, Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors. Durant was criticized for the decision because he was joining a team that had won the NBA title two years prior.
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Bill Walton played college basketball at UCLA from 1971 until 1974. Walton was taken with the first pick in the 1974 NBA draft.
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Ray Allen was never able to win an NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks. However, he did win titles with both the Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Miami Heat in 2013.
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Isiah Thomas was left off of the 1992 men's Olympic basketball team that became known as "The Dream Team." It's widely believed that Michael Jordan played a part in keeping Thomas off of the team because of a feud between the two legends.
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Michael Jordan was a six-time NBA champion and five-time NBA MVP. The only thing that slowed Jordan down was his decision to leave the NBA for two seasons during his prime when he tried his hand at baseball.
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Manute Bol was a Sudanese player who entered the league in 1985. Bol was dominant on defense, but he never pulled together an offensive game, averaging only 2.6 points per game during the regular season.
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Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 to join the Miami Heat. After winning two titles in Miami, Lebron returned to Cleveland and helped his home state win a championship in 2016.
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David Lee was a two-time NBA All-Star with the Golden State Warriors. Lee left the team after winning an NBA title in 2015.
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Steve Nash won back to back NBA MVPs in 2005 and 2006. Many critics believe those awards should have gone to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant respectively.
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Dwight Howard watched the NBA change right in front of him. Before he came along, the NBA was all about the center position. However, that changed as three-pointers became more popular around the league.
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Ron Harper was an important role player on the Bulls in the late '90s and the Lakers in the early '00s. He won five NBA championships between the two teams.
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Alongside Tim Duncan, David Robinson was part of one of the best front courts in NBA history. Known as the "Twin Towers," they won two NBA titles together.
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Dirk Nowitzki went on a tear in the 2011 NBA Playoffs, as he put up spectacular performance after performance. In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Nowitzki even set a playoff record by hitting 24 straight free throws.
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