Category profile
- Dominance
- 80
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 90
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Points per game
| Season | Points per game | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 29.9 | |
| 1971 | 30.6 | |
| 1972 | 27.3 | |
| 1973 | 22.2 | |
| 1974 | 25.6 | |
| 1975 | 23.7 | |
| 1976 | 22.3 | |
| 1977 | 20.5 | |
| 1978 | 23.8 | |
| 1979 | 23 | |
| 1980 | 21.9 | |
| 1981 | 18.7 | |
| 1982 | 20 | |
| 1983 | 17.7 | |
| 1984 | 12.8 |
Data sources
- NBA
- Basketball Reference
- Naismith Hall of Fame
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Dan Issel ranks #43 in Basketball
Dan Issel ranks 43rd among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 257th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 80, Peak 90, Longevity 90, Honours 82, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 402 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1970–1985 with 15 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1971, which sets the Peak component at 90. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes aba titles 1, all-star selections 7, career aba and nba points 27482, career points per game 22.6.
Immediately ahead sits Nikola Jokić on 86.2, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Joe Lapchick on 86.0. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Dan Issel GOAT Score explained
- Dominance80/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Issel stood above the field while competing. Scored 80/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1971. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity90/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 15 years of competition and 15 recorded seasons. Scored 90/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Issel comparisons
Dan Issel — frequently asked
- Is Dan Issel the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Dan Issel ranks 43rd in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 86.2, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
- What is Dan Issel's GOAT Score?
- 86.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 80 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 90 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Dan Issel rank all time?
- 257th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 43rd within Basketball.
- Dan Issel vs Nikola Jokić: who ranks higher?
- Dan Issel, on 86.2 against Nikola Jokić's 86.2 — a margin of 0.0 points.