Who is better, Issel or LeBron?
LeBron James leads with a GOAT score of 95.6 against 86.2 for Dan Issel — a gap of 9.4 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Issel vs LeBron
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks LeBron James above Dan Issel: 95.6 vs 86.2. LeBron James leads on Dominance, Longevity, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
LeBronWinner
95.6LeBron wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Issel
86.2Issel wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to BasketballShareable URL · /compare/dan-issel-vs-lebron
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 LeBron James
95.6
LeBron leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. LeBron James
2. Dan Issel
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇺🇸 LeBron James48 points per game
2 seasons by age 21 · 24 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Issel — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | IsselRetired | LeBronActive · Philadelphia 76ers |
|---|---|---|
| ABA titles | 1 | — |
| All-Star selections | 7 | 21 |
| Career ABA and NBA points | 27,482 | — |
| Career points per game | 22.6 | — |
| Games played | 1,218 | — |
| NBA titles | — | 4 |
| Finals MVP | — | 4 |
| Regular season MVP | — | 4 |
| Career points | — | 41,000 |
| Points per game | — | 27.1 |
| Dominance w25% | 80 | 94 |
| Peak w20% | 90 | 95 |
| Longevity w20% | 90 | 100 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 92 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 98 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
LeBron95.6
Issel86.2
FAQ
Where does Issel beat LeBron?
Issel does not lead any of the five categories; LeBron is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Issel vs LeBron score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Issel: 86.2, LeBron: 95.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Issel vs LeBron. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.