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San Antonio Spurs: basketball quiz

14 October 2026 · Five titles, one coach and a generation that changed how the NBA plays.

Quiz questions

  1. The Spurs won their first title in the lockout-shortened 1999 season. They clinched it with a 78-77 road win in Game 5. Avery Johnson hit the go-ahead jumper with 47 seconds left, and Latrell Sprewell missed the home side's last shots. Whom did the Spurs beat?

    • Indiana Pacers
    • Miami Heat
    • New York Knicks
    • Atlanta Hawks
    Answer

    The New York Knicks, 4-1. They were the first eighth seed ever to reach the Finals. They played without Patrick Ewing, who had torn an Achilles tendon against Indiana in the conference finals. The other three options were the teams the Knicks beat on the way.

  2. Manu Ginóbili spent all 16 of his NBA seasons in San Antonio. On 28 March 2019, with the Argentine anthem playing, the Spurs raised his jersey to the rafters. Which number did he wear for the Spurs?

    • 5
    • 6
    • 10
    • 20
    Answer

    20. 20. At Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca he had worn 10. In San Antonio that number already belonged to Speedy Claxton, so he picked 20. For Argentina he wore 5.

  3. The Spurs franchise was born in 1967 as one of the ABA's charter members, but not in San Antonio. In 1973 the club missed the playoffs for the first time. That year it was leased to a group of San Antonio businessmen. What was the club called in its first season?

    • Houston Mavericks
    • Dallas Chaparrals
    • Texas Chaparrals
    • New Orleans Buccaneers
    Answer

    The Dallas Chaparrals. In 1970-71 they played as the Texas Chaparrals and took home games to Fort Worth and Lubbock. Then they went back to the Dallas name. The San Antonio group used its option to buy the club after just one year.

  4. Kawhi Leonard was the 2014 Finals MVP, yet San Antonio never drafted him. Indiana took him 15th in 2011 and sent his rights to the Spurs on draft night. Which Spurs player went to Indiana in that deal?

    • George Hill
    • Gary Neal
    • Cory Joseph
    • DeJuan Blair
    Answer

    George Hill. The same deal also brought San Antonio the rights to Latvia's Dāvis Bertāns. Cory Joseph was the Spurs' own pick that night, 29th, and six years later he did end up in Indiana.

  5. The Spurs drafted this Argentine 56th in 2002. He spent the next five years starring in the EuroLeague for a Spanish club. In July 2007 San Antonio finally traded his rights. In return they got a Greek guard who never played a single game for the Spurs. Who was the Argentine?

    • Andrés Nocioni
    • Fabricio Oberto
    • Luis Scola
    • Carlos Delfino
    Answer

    Luis Scola, who went to Houston along with Jackie Butler. The Greek was Vassilis Spanoulis. He chose to go home and won his first EuroLeague title with Panathinaikos in 2009.

  6. Only four players have an official NBA quadruple-double. Only one of them got the fourth category with steals instead of blocks. He posted this line in a Spurs uniform. Who was he?

    • David Robinson
    • Alvin Robertson
    • George Gervin
    • Johnny Moore
    Answer

    Alvin Robertson, against Phoenix on 18 February 1986. That season he made 301 steals, and nobody else has reached 300 in a season. The other three quadruple-doubles, David Robinson's among them, all came with blocks.

  7. The Spurs have made the first overall pick in the draft three times. All three picks were big men, and all three were named Rookie of the Year. All four of these big men played in San Antonio. Which one was not among those three?

    • David Robinson
    • Tim Duncan
    • Victor Wembanyama
    • LaMarcus Aldridge
    Answer

    LaMarcus Aldridge. Chicago took him second in 2006 and sent him straight to Portland. There his teammate Brandon Roy won Rookie of the Year. The Spurs took Robinson first in 1987, Duncan in 1997 and Wembanyama in 2023.

  8. Tim Duncan put up this line in the Finals game that clinched a title. He was two blocks short of a quadruple-double. That same night his frontcourt partner, the 1995 league MVP, played the last game of his career. Which Finals was it?

    • 1999
    • 2003
    • 2005
    • 2007
    Answer

    2003, Game 6 against the New Jersey Nets, won 88-77. David Robinson signed off with 13 points and 17 rebounds, and Duncan was Finals MVP for the second time.

  9. The 2014 champions were one of the most international teams the NBA had seen. All four of these players were on the Spurs roster in 2013-14, but one of them was traded away in February and missed the title. Who?

    • Nando de Colo
    • Boris Diaw
    • Marco Belinelli
    • Aron Baynes
    Answer

    Nando de Colo. He played 26 games for the Spurs that season. On 20 February 2014 he was traded to the Toronto Raptors for Austin Daye. Aron Baynes, the least famous of the four, did get a ring.

  10. In 2007 Tony Parker became the first European to be named Finals MVP. The Spurs had drafted him six years earlier with their own first-round pick. In the season before that draft they had posted the best record in the league. At which pick was he chosen?

    • 27
    • 28
    • 29
    • 30
    Answer

    28. 28th, the last pick of the first round. The league had 29 teams, and Minnesota had forfeited its first-round pick for salary cap violations. The Spurs had gone 58-24 in 2000-01.

Previous quiz: Last-second shots (13 October 2026) · Next quiz: EuroLeague, NBA and FIBA (15 October 2026)

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