Dan Issel
Encyclopedia
Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948 in Batavia, Illinois
) is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball
player and coach.
at the University of Kentucky
under legendary coach Adolph Rupp
. Issel was at UK 1966-1970 and scored 2,138 points (an average of 25.7 per game) while being named an All American for two of the three seasons he was eligible for the award. His career points total remains the highest among UK men's players. (Valerie Still
, who was eligible for and played four years, surpassed Issel's total with the women's team
.)
On February 7, 1970, Issel scored 53 points in a 120-85 victory over Mississippi
, breaking Cliff Hagan
's single-game Wildcat record of 51. Issel's mark held for almost four decades, finally falling to Jodie Meeks
' 54 in a win against University of Tennessee
on January 13, 2009.
of the NBA and the Kentucky Colonels
of the American Basketball Association
(ABA). Issel signed to play basketball for the Colonels and the ABA.
In his first season, Issel led the ABA in scoring with an average of 29.9 points per game, and pulled down 13.2 rebounds per game. He was named the ABA Rookie of the year in 1971, and was selected to the All-ABA Second Team. The following season, Issel raised his scoring average to 30.6 points per game, made the All-ABA First Team, and was named MVP of the 1972 ABA All-Star Game
.
In 1975, Issel won the 1975 ABA championship
with the Colonels, who also featured sharp-shooting guard (and fellow ex-Kentucky Wildcat) Louie Dampier
, as well as 7'2" center Artis Gilmore
. After the Colonels' championship season Issel was sold by the Colonels' owners to the short-lived Baltimore Claws
franchise and ended up with the Denver Nuggets
for the following season.
Issel remained with the Nuggets following the ABA-NBA merger
in June 1976, and he represented Denver in the 1977 NBA All-Star Game
. He continued playing through the 1984-1985 season, and received the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
in 1985 for his outstanding service to the community.
Issel accumulated over 27,000 points in his combined ABA and NBA career. At the time of his retirement the only professional basketball players to have scored more points than Issel were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
, Wilt Chamberlain
and Julius Erving
. He currently ranks #8 on the all time combined ABA/NBA scoring list.
. He returned to the Nuggets as head coach in 1992
and led them to the playoffs in 1994
. He was part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1993. The Nuggets had only won 44 games in the previous two years, but Issel led them to their first winning record in four years. That year, the Nuggets pulled off the biggest upset to that date in National Basketball Association
(NBA) playoff history, knocking off the Seattle SuperSonics
in five games (the first ever 8th seed to beat a 1st seed in the first round). He resigned 34 games into the 1994-95 season after facing criticism for his coaching style, saying he didn't like the person he'd become.
He returned in 1998
as president and general manager
, naming himself head coach again in December 1999, yielding his general manager's title to Kiki Vandeweghe. His second tenure was far less successful; the Nuggets did not post a winning season during this time. He was hampered in part by a drawn-out effort to find a new owner; two deals to sell the team collapsed at the last minute. Just before the start of the 1999-2000 season, he told reporters that there were several decisions he simply couldn't make due to the unstable ownership situation.
His tenure ended on a rather sour note in December
2001
. On December 10, after a close loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Issel heard a fan taunting him as he walked off the court at the Pepsi Center
. Issel taunted back, "Go drink another beer, you Mexican piece of shit" The incident was captured on Denver's NBC
affiliate, KUSA-TV
. Issel was suspended four games by the team. Issel publicly apologized the next day, and on Friday met with Hispanic chamber representatives, who accepted his apology. However, several members of Denver's Hispanic community thought the suspension was insufficient punishment, and called for him to be fired. Hours before he was due to return, Issel took a leave of absence to decide whether he wanted to return. Issel decided to resign on December 26.
Batavia, Illinois
Batavia was founded in 1833, and is the oldest city in Kane County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County. During the Industrial Revolution, Batavia became known as ‘The Windmill City’ for being the largest windmill producer of the time...
) is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player and coach.
Collegiate playing career
Issel played college basketballCollege basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
at the University of Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
under legendary coach Adolph Rupp
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching...
. Issel was at UK 1966-1970 and scored 2,138 points (an average of 25.7 per game) while being named an All American for two of the three seasons he was eligible for the award. His career points total remains the highest among UK men's players. (Valerie Still
Valerie Still
Valerie Still is a former United States professional women's basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA.During her four years at the University of Kentucky, she scored more points than any other basketball player, male or female, with 2,763 points. Afterwards she went abroad, playing...
, who was eligible for and played four years, surpassed Issel's total with the women's team
Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represent the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference, which has historically been the most dominant conference in women's basketball. However, despite reaching national rankings as high as #4, the team has never reached the national...
.)
On February 7, 1970, Issel scored 53 points in a 120-85 victory over Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
, breaking Cliff Hagan
Cliff Hagan
Clifford Oldham Hagan is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner," played his entire 10-year NBA career with the St. Louis Hawks...
's single-game Wildcat record of 51. Issel's mark held for almost four decades, finally falling to Jodie Meeks
Jodie Meeks
Jodie Meeks is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA.Meeks played college basketball for the University of Kentucky Wildcats...
' 54 in a win against University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
on January 13, 2009.
Professional playing career
Upon Issel's graduation in 1970 he was drafted by the Detroit PistonsDetroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
of the NBA and the Kentucky Colonels
Kentucky Colonels
The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did...
of the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
(ABA). Issel signed to play basketball for the Colonels and the ABA.
In his first season, Issel led the ABA in scoring with an average of 29.9 points per game, and pulled down 13.2 rebounds per game. He was named the ABA Rookie of the year in 1971, and was selected to the All-ABA Second Team. The following season, Issel raised his scoring average to 30.6 points per game, made the All-ABA First Team, and was named MVP of the 1972 ABA All-Star Game
1972 ABA All-Star Game
GAME 5: at Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, January 29, 1972MVP: Dan Issel, Kentucky ColonelsCoaches:* East: Joe Mullaney, Kentucky Colonels* West: LaDell Andersen, Utah Stars-Western Conference: -Eastern Conference: -Score by Periods:...
.
In 1975, Issel won the 1975 ABA championship
1975 ABA Playoffs
The 1975 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1974-1975 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels defeating the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers, four games to one in the ABA Finals.The Kentucky...
with the Colonels, who also featured sharp-shooting guard (and fellow ex-Kentucky Wildcat) Louie Dampier
Louie Dampier
Louis "Louie" Dampier is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association , all with the Kentucky Colonels...
, as well as 7'2" center Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association...
. After the Colonels' championship season Issel was sold by the Colonels' owners to the short-lived Baltimore Claws
Baltimore Claws
The Baltimore Claws was an American basketball team which was supposed to appear in the 1975-76 season in the American Basketball Association. The team collapsed before the season started, playing only three exhibition games in its brief history.-Background:...
franchise and ended up with the Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
for the following season.
Issel remained with the Nuggets following the ABA-NBA merger
ABA-NBA merger
The ABA–NBA merger was the merger of the American Basketball Association with the National Basketball Association, which after multiple attempts over several years finally occurred in 1976.- Origins of ABA-NBA competition :...
in June 1976, and he represented Denver in the 1977 NBA All-Star Game
National Basketball Association All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association staged its first All-Star Game in the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951. From that year on, the game has matched the best players in the Eastern Conference with the best players in the Western Conference....
. He continued playing through the 1984-1985 season, and received the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1974–75 NBA season to a player, coach, or trainer who shows "outstanding service and dedication to the community"...
in 1985 for his outstanding service to the community.
Issel accumulated over 27,000 points in his combined ABA and NBA career. At the time of his retirement the only professional basketball players to have scored more points than Issel were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
, Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
and Julius Erving
Julius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II , commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim....
. He currently ranks #8 on the all time combined ABA/NBA scoring list.
Coaching career
After his playing career Issel retired to a horse farm in Woodford County, KentuckyWoodford County, Kentucky
Woodford County is a county located in the heart of the Bluegrass region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 23,208. Its county seat is Versailles. The county is named for General William Woodford, who was with General George Washington at Valley Forge...
. He returned to the Nuggets as head coach in 1992
1992-93 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns*Rookie of the Year: Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando Magic*Defensive Player of the Year: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets...
and led them to the playoffs in 1994
1993-94 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets*Rookie of the Year: Chris Webber, Golden State Warriors*Defensive Player of the Year: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets...
. He was part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1993. The Nuggets had only won 44 games in the previous two years, but Issel led them to their first winning record in four years. That year, the Nuggets pulled off the biggest upset to that date in National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) playoff history, knocking off the Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
in five games (the first ever 8th seed to beat a 1st seed in the first round). He resigned 34 games into the 1994-95 season after facing criticism for his coaching style, saying he didn't like the person he'd become.
He returned in 1998
1998-99 NBA season
The 1999 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association . Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999 after a new six year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association...
as president and general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
, naming himself head coach again in December 1999, yielding his general manager's title to Kiki Vandeweghe. His second tenure was far less successful; the Nuggets did not post a winning season during this time. He was hampered in part by a drawn-out effort to find a new owner; two deals to sell the team collapsed at the last minute. Just before the start of the 1999-2000 season, he told reporters that there were several decisions he simply couldn't make due to the unstable ownership situation.
His tenure ended on a rather sour note in December
December 2001
December 2001: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-----December 2, 2001:* Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five days after Dynegy canceled a buyout bid .-December 4, 2001:...
2001
2001-02 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs*Rookie of the Year: Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies*Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons...
. On December 10, after a close loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Issel heard a fan taunting him as he walked off the court at the Pepsi Center
Pepsi Center
Pepsi Center is a multi-purpose arena in Denver, Colorado, United States. The building is home to the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association, the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League...
. Issel taunted back, "Go drink another beer, you Mexican piece of shit" The incident was captured on Denver's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate, KUSA-TV
KUSA-TV
KUSA, channel 9, is an NBC-affiliated television station in Denver, Colorado. KUSA is owned by the Gannett Company, and is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate KTVD...
. Issel was suspended four games by the team. Issel publicly apologized the next day, and on Friday met with Hispanic chamber representatives, who accepted his apology. However, several members of Denver's Hispanic community thought the suspension was insufficient punishment, and called for him to be fired. Hours before he was due to return, Issel took a leave of absence to decide whether he wanted to return. Issel decided to resign on December 26.
See also
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds