Daniel Paul Issel was born on October 25,1948 and is an American former professional basketball player and coach.
39 Facts About Dan Issel
2.
An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career.
3.
Dan Issel was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
4.
Dan Issel was born in Batavia, Illinois, son of Robert and Elanor Dan Issel, and grew up with sister Kathi and brother Greg.
5.
Dan Issel attended Batavia High School, graduating in 1966 as an All-American playing for Coach Don Vandersnick.
6.
Dan Issel led Batavia to Regional titles his last two years.
7.
Dan Issel was recruited by Northwestern, Illinois and Wisconsin, but he chose Kentucky.
8.
Dan Issel then played college basketball at the University of Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp.
9.
Dan Issel's mark held for almost four decades, until Jodie Meeks scored 54 points against Tennessee on January 13,2009.
10.
Dan Issel scored 51 at Louisiana State University on February 21,1970, currently the third-best mark in school history.
11.
Dan Issel signed to play basketball for the Colonels and the ABA.
12.
Dan Issel played in the 1971 ABA All-Star Game and was selected to the All-ABA Second Team.
13.
Dan Issel shared ABA Rookie of the Year honors with Charlie Scott of the Virginia Squires.
14.
Dan Issel's success did not stop there, en route to the Colonels' 1971 ABA Finals appearance that postseason, Dan Issel averaged 28.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per playoff game.
15.
Dan Issel was named the MVP of his second All-Star Game for scoring 21 points and collaring nine rebounds.
16.
In Game 4 of the series, Dan Issel led all scorers with 26 points.
17.
In six seasons, Dan Issel led the league in total points three times and was an All-Star each year.
18.
The Claws folded before the season's start, and Dan Issel was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Dave Robisch and cash.
19.
Dan Issel remained productive, topping 20 points per game five of his remaining eight years.
20.
Dan Issel played a key role in helping the Nuggets make the postseason every year of his tenure, alongside fellow stars David Thompson, Bobby Jones, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Alex English.
21.
In nine seasons and 718 NBA games with Denver, Dan Issel averaged 20.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
22.
Dan Issel accumulated over 27,000 points in his combined ABA and NBA career, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving upon his retirement.
23.
Dan Issel missed only 24 games in 15 seasons, earning him the moniker, "the Horse".
24.
Dan Issel was part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1993.
25.
Dan Issel spent a year doing color commentary for Kentucky basketball games then became a Nuggets broadcaster from 1988 to 1992.
26.
In 1994, Dan Issel led his team to the playoffs with their first winning record in four years, after only winning 44 games in the previous two years.
27.
Dan Issel returned to the Nuggets in 1998 as president and general manager.
28.
Dan Issel named himself head coach again in December 1999, yielding his general manager's title to Kiki Vandeweghe.
29.
Dan Issel 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.
30.
In 2000, Dan Issel faced a team mutiny after he criticized them following a winless four-game Eastern road trip.
31.
Dan Issel was suspended without pay for four games by the team.
32.
Dan Issel publicly apologized the next day, and on Friday met with Hispanic chamber representatives, who accepted his apology.
33.
Hours before he was due to return, Dan Issel took a leave of absence to decide whether he wanted to return.
34.
Dan Issel's wife Cheri, whom he met at the University of Kentucky, is an accomplished artist.
35.
Greg Dan Issel died suddenly of heart failure in 1998 at the age of 46.
36.
In 2011, Dan Issel served as executive director at the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.
37.
In 2017, Dan Issel served as speaker at Batavia High School's gymnasium to honor a family friend, fellow Batavia classmate and national sportscaster Craig Sager, after Sager's death.
38.
Sager and Dan Issel were basketball teammates at Batavia High School when Sager was a freshman and Dan Issel a senior.
39.
In February 2018, Dan Issel became president of the Louisville Basketball Investment and Support Group, a Kentucky-based company founded in 2016 to pursue an NBA franchise.