Dan IsselDenver Nuggets · #44
Dan Issel is a retired center best known with the Denver Nuggets. Prolific ABA/NBA scorer. Career averages: 22.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
Dan Issel — the report card
Read his whole game at a glance, then dive into any skill. Grades from the DNA model + real production.
Where Dan Issel stands
Live ladders from the Balladex models, and what he's chasing. Rankings recompute nightly from real production, accolades, and search demand.
Dan Issel — every number, three levels deep
Headline → metric → the raw history behind it. Real career data; tracking-only metrics labeled.
How the model sees Dan Issel
Projection = per-minute rate × projected minutes. Rates are recency- and health-weighted, aged along a per-stat curve, and adjusted for live usage/role. No black box — every number shows its work.
Dan Issel career stats, season by season
| Season | GP | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-71 (ABA, Kentucky) | 83 | 39.4 | 29.9 | 13.2 | 2.0 | .488 | .000 |
| 1971-72 (ABA, Kentucky) | 83 | 43.0 | 30.6 | 11.2 | 2.3 | .486 | .273 |
| 1972-73 (ABA, Kentucky) | 84 | 42.0 | 27.3 | 11.0 | 2.6 | .513 | .200 |
| 1973-74 (ABA, Kentucky) | 83 | 40.3 | 25.5 | 10.2 | 1.7 | .480 | .176 |
| 1974-75 (ABA, Kentucky) CHIP | 83 | 34.5 | 17.7 | 8.6 | 2.3 | .471 | .000 |
| 1975-76 (ABA, Kentucky) | 84 | 34.0 | 23.0 | 11.0 | 2.4 | .511 | .250 |
| 1976-77 (Denver) | 79 | 31.7 | 22.3 | 8.8 | 2.2 | .515 | |
| 1977-78 (Denver) | 82 | 34.8 | 21.3 | 10.1 | 3.7 | .512 | |
| 1978-79 (Denver) | 81 | 33.9 | 17.0 | 9.1 | 3.1 | .517 | |
| 1979-80 (Denver) | 82 | 35.8 | 23.8 | 8.8 | 2.4 | .505 | .333 |
| 1980-81 (Denver) | 80 | 33.0 | 21.9 | 8.5 | 2.0 | .503 | .167 |
| 1981-82 (Denver) | 81 | 30.5 | 22.9 | 7.5 | 2.2 | .527 | .667 |
| 1982-83 (Denver) | 80 | 30.4 | 21.6 | 7.5 | 2.8 | .510 | .211 |
| 1983-84 (Denver) | 76 | 27.3 | 19.8 | 6.8 | 2.3 | .493 | .211 |
| 1984-85 (Denver) | 77 | 21.9 | 12.8 | 4.3 | 1.8 | .459 | .143 |
| Career | 1218 | 34.3 | 22.6 | 9.2 | 2.4 |
The Lab
Every number, live and interactive. Real career data; models labeled.
Are the Denver Nuggets built to win?
Team projection rolled up from the roster + last-season baselines — and what it means for his role.
The Ballad of Dan Issel
Birth to now — the making of a legend, narrated and scored.
Turning pro
Drafted 1970 as a Center.
true
They called him The Horse, and for a decade a mile up in the Rockies he just kept running — one of the most durable, prolific scorers the pro game has ever seen, and one of the coasts' most overlooked.
Chapter
Out of Kentucky, where he'd led the nation in scoring, he became the face of the ABA's Colonels and won a championship in 1975 — then brought his game to Denver as the red, white and blue ball gave way to orange.
Chapter
Night after night he showed up and scored: more than 27,000 professional points across the ABA and NBA, almost never missing a game. No wasted motion, no drama — just The Horse, and the bucket.
Chapter
The Hall of Fame called in 1993. He'd later coach the Nuggets, too — but Denver remembers him best in a headband on a fast break, doing the least glamorous, most valuable thing in sports: showing up, and delivering, every single night.
Off the court
- Height
- 6' 9"
- Weight
- 240 lbs
- College
- Kentucky
- Experience
- Rookie
- NBA debut
- 1970
- Draft
- 1970
- Jersey
- #44
Prolific ABA/NBA scorer.
A retired Hall of Famer and Denver Nuggets name.
Dan Issel — frequently asked
The questions people ask most about Dan Issel, answered.
