Dan Issel scored so often in the 1970s that entire defensive game plans revolved around stopping him, and it still didn’t work. Yet for many casual NBA fans today, his name barely surfaces in all-time debates. A recent TV appearance offered a reminder of both his résumé and his old-school view of greatness.
On FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back“, Issel was asked to pick an all-time starting five. He didn’t reach for modern icons like LeBron James or Stephen Curry, instead building a lineup anchored by the stars he watched up close. The result was a snapshot of how a Hall of Fame scorer from the ABA and early NBA era sizes up basketball history.
Why Dan Issel matters
Before he became a Denver fixture, Issel was a college force at Kentucky, finishing as the Wildcats’ all-time leading scorer with 2,138 points. He stayed three seasons in Lexington and left with a reputation for constant production rather than one-year hype. That scoring record still stands as the program’s best-known benchmark.
His pro career carried the same theme across two leagues. Issel spent five seasons in the ABA, won the 1975 title with the Kentucky Colonels, and then played through the 1976 ABA-NBA merger into a long run with the Denver Nuggets. In the NBA alone, he averaged 20.4 points and 7.9 rebounds, numbers that reflect both his scoring touch and his work on the glass.
His starting five choices
Issel’s picks were Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It is a group heavy on two-way impact and postseason pedigree, with five players who combined for 21 NBA championships. It is also a list that leans into the 1980s and early 1990s, the era Issel saw as the league’s defining bridge from the ABA to the modern NBA.
He explained his choices through firsthand memory more than spreadsheet comparisons. Issel noted he faced Abdul-Jabbar dozens of times and jokingly framed it as being “on the wrong end of the score” in those matchups. He also pointed to Erving’s uniqueness, calling Dr. J the kind of athlete who did things he had never seen before on a court.
LeBron’s absence is notable because his resume is not just modern hype. In February 2023, he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, breaking a record that had stood for nearly four decades. That achievement makes his exclusion from Issel’s five especially striking, even if Issel’s list clearly reflects the stars who shaped his own basketball era.
Magic and Jordan logic
At point guard, Issel went with Magic, a choice that still aligns with mainstream consensus even in the Curry era. Magic’s career averages of 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 11.2 assists capture why he remains the standard for size-plus-playmaking at the position. The awards are just as loud, with five championships, three MVPs, and three Finals MVPs.
Jordan was the least surprising name on the card, even though their timelines barely overlapped. Issel’s final NBA season was Jordan’s rookie year, but Jordan’s early dominance was immediate and memorable, including a monster line in one of their matchups that Issel referenced on the show. Jordan finished his career at 30.1 points per game with six titles, five MVPs, and 10 scoring crowns, the profile most fans still treat as the sport’s gold standard.
Fun fact: Issel was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Why Dr. J made it
The selection that will spark the most debate today is Erving over a modern wing like LeBron. Issel’s reasoning was rooted in what Erving looked like in real time, particularly when he arrived in the ABA and played above the rim in ways the league had not normalized yet. To Issel, Dr. J was not just a high scorer; he was a transformational style of player.
Erving’s NBA résumé remains elite even before factoring in his ABA dominance. In the NBA, he averaged 22.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, and he was the centerpiece of a 76ers champion in 1983. Issel also highlighted a specific kind of credibility that only peers can provide, noting Erving’s ability to finish in traffic against big men that few players challenged.
Little-known fact: As head coach of the Nuggets, Issel led Denver to the 1994 upset of the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics, the first 8-seed to beat a 1-seed in NBA playoff history.
Bird and Kareem fit
Bird gives Issel’s lineup its spacing and half-court problem-solving. He averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists, and his quick decisions made him a natural connector next to high-usage stars. In a five-man group loaded with slashers, Bird’s shooting and passing keep possessions from bogging down into turns and isolations.
Kareem is the stabilizer at the center, and Issel’s personal history with him clearly mattered. Abdul-Jabbar averaged 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.6 blocks, and his skyhook stayed reliable long after other players lost athletic lift. He also checks the longevity and hardware boxes, winning six MVPs and six championships, then retiring as the league’s all-time scoring leader before LeBron passed him in 2023.
Fun fact: Issel was named ABA Rookie of the Year for the 1970–71 season.
What the list says
Issel’s five is less about ignoring the present and more about defining “greatness” through what his generation valued. Every pick can score, but each also brings size, passing, or rim protection, which is why the group reads like a blueprint for playoff basketball. Magic drives efficiency, Jordan and Erving pressure the rim, Bird punishes help defense, and Kareem supplies a constant interior option.
It also shows the limits of all-time lists when eras collide. Modern fans weigh three-point volume, pace, and positionless switching more heavily, which naturally elevates players like LeBron or Curry in many arguments. Issel’s choices reflect a player ’s-eye view of dominance, shaped by the matchups he lived and the stars who made the loudest imprint on his league.
TL;DR
- Dan Issel remains Kentucky’s all-time scoring leader with 2,138 points and later became a top scorer in both the ABA and NBA.
- On FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back“, Issel named Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as his all-time starting five.
- His list strongly reflects the era he played in, favoring players he watched and faced rather than modern stars.
- Magic’s playmaking and résumé anchor the backcourt, while Jordan is the lineup’s primary two-way scorer.
- The most debated pick is Julius Erving, chosen for his era-defining athleticism and impact.
- Kareem provides the interior foundation, and Bird supplies spacing and decision-making in the half-court.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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