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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Dan Issel
Career at a glance
Dan Issel played 15 professional regular seasons (6 in the ABA, 9 in the NBA) between 1970 and 1985, appearing in 1,218 games and averaging 22.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He played for 3 teams: Kentucky (ABA) (1970–75, 416 games), Denver (ABA) (1975–76, 84 games), Denver (1976–85, 718 games). His best scoring season was 1971–72 with Kentucky (ABA): 30.6 points per game over 83 games.
He rebounded best in 1970–71 at 13.2 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in scoring once. Championship season: 1974–75 (Kentucky (ABA)).
In the playoffs he appeared in 13 postseason runs (133 games, 22.1 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 27,500 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Dan Issel
Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning All-American twice en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball AssociationRookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
A prolific scorer, Issel remains the all-time leading scorer at the University of Kentucky, the second-leading scorer of all time for the NBA's Denver Nuggets, and the second-leading scorer of all time for the American Basketball Association itself. Upon Issel's retirement from the NBA in 1985, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius Erving were the only professional basketball players to have scored more career points. Issel was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
- Born
- October 25, 1948 (age 77) Batavia, Illinois, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
- Listed weight
- 235 lb (107 kg)
- Position
- Center / power forward
- High school
- Batavia (Batavia, Illinois)
- College
- Kentucky (1967–1970)
- NBA draft
- 1970: 8th round, 122nd overall pick
- Playing career
- 1970–1985
Career highlights and awards
- ABA champion (1975)
- NBA All-Star (1977)
- 6× ABA All-Star (1971–1976)
- ABA All-Star Game MVP (1972)
- All-ABA First Team (1972)
- 4× All-ABA Second Team (1971, 1973, 1974, 1976)
- ABA Rookie of the Year (1971)
- ABA scoring champion (1971)
- ABA All-Time Team
- No. 44 retired by Denver Nuggets
- Consensus first-team All-American (1970)
- Consensus second-team All-American (1969)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970–71 | Kentucky (ABA) | 83 | – | 39.4 | .485 | .000 | .807 | 13.2 | 2.0 | – | – | 29.9* |
| 1971–72 | Kentucky (ABA) | 83 | – | 43.0 | .486 | .273 | .785 | 11.2 | 2.3 | – | – | 30.6 |
| 1972–73 | Kentucky (ABA) | 84* | – | 42.0 | .513 | .200 | .764 | 11.0 | 2.6 | – | – | 27.3 |
| 1973–74 | Kentucky (ABA) | 83 | – | 40.3 | .480 | .176 | .787 | 10.2 | 1.7 | .8 | .4 | 25.5 |
| 1974–75† | Kentucky (ABA) | 83 | – | 34.5 | .471 | .000 | .738 | 8.6 | 2.3 | .9 | .6 | 17.7 |
| 1975–76 | Denver (ABA) | 84 | – | 34.0 | .511 | .250 | .816 | 11.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | .7 | 23.0 |
| 1976–77 | Denver | 79 | – | 31.7 | .515 | – | .797 | 8.8 | 2.2 | 1.2 | .4 | 22.3 |
| 1977–78 | Denver | 82 | – | 34.8 | .512 | – | .782 | 10.1 | 3.7 | 1.2 | .5 | 21.3 |
| 1978–79 | Denver | 81 | – | 33.9 | .517 | – | .754 | 9.1 | 3.1 | .8 | .6 | 17.0 |
| 1979–80 | Denver | 82 | – | 35.8 | .505 | .333 | .775 | 8.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | .7 | 23.8 |
| 1980–81 | Denver | 80 | – | 33.0 | .503 | .167 | .759 | 8.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | .7 | 21.9 |
| 1981–82 | Denver | 81 | 81 | 30.5 | .527 | .667 | .834 | 7.5 | 2.2 | .8 | .7 | 22.9 |
| 1982–83 | Denver | 80 | 80 | 30.4 | .510 | .211 | .835 | 7.5 | 2.8 | 1.0 | .5 | 21.6 |
| 1983–84 | Denver | 76 | 66 | 27.3 | .493 | .211 | .850 | 6.8 | 2.3 | .8 | .6 | 19.8 |
| 1984–85 | Denver | 77 | 9 | 21.9 | .459 | .143 | .806 | 4.3 | 1.8 | .8 | .4 | 12.8 |
| Career | 1,218 | 236 | 34.3 | .499 | .204 | .793 | 9.1 | 2.4 | 1.0 | .5 | 22.6 | |
| All-Star | 7 | 1 | 24.7 | .512 | – | .731 | 6.9 | 2.3 | .1 | .1 | 14.7 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Kentucky (ABA) | 19 | – | 35.3 | .505 | – | .878 | 11.6 | 1.5 | – | – | 28.1 |
| 1972 | Kentucky (ABA) | 6 | – | 44.8 | .412 | .000 | .760 | 9.0 | .8 | – | – | 22.0 |
| 1973 | Kentucky (ABA) | 19 | – | 43.4 | .497 | .167 | .795 | 11.8 | 1.5 | – | – | 27.4 |
| 1974 | Kentucky (ABA) | 8 | – | 38.9 | .444 | – | .848 | 10.9 | 1.8 | .5 | .8 | 18.5 |
| 1975† | Kentucky (ABA) | 15 | – | 38.5 | .467 | – | .811 | 7.9 | 1.9 | 1.1 | .8 | 20.3 |
| 1976 | Denver (ABA) | 13 | – | 36.2 | .489 | .000 | .786 | 12.0 | 2.5 | 1.0 | .6 | 20.5 |
| 1977 | Denver | 6 | – | 37.0 | .510 | – | .756 | 9.7 | 2.8 | .8 | .7 | 22.0 |
| 1978 | Denver | 13 | – | 35.4 | .486 | – | .862 | 10.3 | 4.1 | .5 | .2 | 20.2 |
| 1979 | Denver | 3 | – | 36.3 | .533 | – | .806 | 9.3 | 3.3 | .0 | .0 | 24.3 |
| 1982 | Denver | 3 | – | 34.3 | .533 | – | 1.000 | 7.0 | 1.7 | 1.0 | .3 | 25.3 |
| 1983 | Denver | 8 | – | 28.4 | .507 | .000 | .862 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 1.1 | .6 | 20.4 |
| 1984 | Denver | 5 | – | 30.6 | .510 | .500 | .821 | 8.0 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 27.4 |
| 1985 | Denver | 15 | 4 | 21.7 | .459 | 1.000 | .813 | 3.6 | 1.8 | .8 | .3 | 12.4 |
| Career | 133 | 4 | 35.5 | .487 | .250 | .822 | 9.4 | 2.1 | .8 | .6 | 22.1 |
Per-game averages. † won an ABA or NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ league record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 9″
- Weight
- 235 lb
- Position
- Center / power forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1970
- Draft pick
- Round 8 · Pick 122
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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