Before the days of Kentucky big men like Karl-Anthony Towns/Anthony Davis there was Dan Issel. He never won a scoring title or conference POY award since his career overlapped with another decent player at LSU named Pete Maravich but he still won 3 straight SEC titles while putting up some amazing stats. He scored more than 2000 career PTS, grabbed more than 1000 career REB, and averaged almost 34 PPG as a senior thanks to a 53-PT performance in a victory over Mississippi. He later became an All-Star in both the ABA/NBA and won the 1975 ABA title with the Kentucky Colonels before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Dan about playing for Adolph Rupp and being part of the highest-scoring game in NBA history. Today marks the 52nd anniversary of his 53-PT game on February 7, 1970, so we take this time to remember that remarkable record.
You were a 2-time All American for Hall of Fame coach Adolph Rupp at Kentucky: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? Coach Rupp had great power at UK and could give as many scholarships as he wanted: my freshmen year we had 12 players on scholarship. He always had great talent but also was ahead of his time as far as basketball fundamentals were concerned. Every opponent knew exactly what plays we were running but we ran them with such precision they still could not stop us. The best lesson I learned from Coach Rupp was, “The harder you work the luckier you get”.
On February 7, 1970 you scored a school-record 53 PTS/23-34 FG in a win at Mississippi: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? They did not all go in but I suppose that I was in a zone. I also broke Cotton Nash’s career scoring record in that game. The thing I remember most about that game was that my dad was there to witness it.
In the 1970 NCAA tourney you had 28 PTS/10 REB before fouling out of a 6-PT loss to eventual national runner-up Jacksonville: where does your future pro teammate Artis Gilmore (24 PTS/20 REB) rank among the best college players that you have ever seen? I can still see very clearly the scoreboard reading 10:32 remaining in the game as I walked to the bench. Artis was amazing: I was very blessed to have played with him for 4 years with the Kentucky Colonels. He was not only 1 of the best college players I ever saw but 1 of the best pros as well.
Your career 25.8 PPG remains a school record: what was your secret for being a great scorer, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I stayed healthy and got a lot of good shots in Coach Rupp’s offense. I do not know about the scoring average record but I doubt that anyone will break the total points record because anyone who is good enough to do that will be in the NBA very quickly.
After graduating you were picked by Detroit in the NBA draft and by Kentucky in the ABA draft, and after signing with Kentucky you led the ABA with 29.9 PPG and were named ABA co-ROY (along with Charlie Scott): what made you choose the Colonels, and how were you able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? I actually signed with the Colonels before the NBA draft. I fell in love with Kentucky: my wife Cheri is from there so it seemed very natural to go 75 miles down the road and play with my dear friend (and fellow Wildcat) Louie Dampier. The ABA played a more wide-open/up-and-down style, which really suited my game. I am not sure if I would have had the same initial success had I gone straight to the NBA.
In the 1975 ABA Finals you beat Indiana in 5 games: what did it mean to you to win a title after losing Game 7 of the Finals in both 1971/1973? It was the greatest feeling in the world to finally accomplish the goal that we had been seeking for so long. We had some great teams in Louisville and should have won more than 1 championship: it took Coach Hubie Brown to get us over the hump.
On December 13, 1983, you scored 28 PTS in a 186-184 3-OT home loss to Detroit: what are your memories of the highest-scoring game in NBA history? The amazing thing about that game is there were not that many 3-PT shots taken. I remember being very tired and losing the game: it was not until later that we learned it was the highest-scoring game in league history.
You were nicknamed “the Horse” due to playing in 1218 games and missing only 24 during your 15 seasons as a pro: who gave you the nickname, and how were you able to remain such a durable player? I tell people that I did not run fast enough or jump high enough to get hurt! I was just very fortunate that I never sustained a major injury. In 15 years of pro basketball I never even missed 2 games in a row. Bob King was our assistant general manager and gave me the nickname. I played a good game 1 night and the next day the newspaper said that I played like a thoroughbred. Bob said he thought I played like a Clydesdale, and then Clydesdale became “Horse”, and it stuck.
In 1993 you were inducted into the Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? Being inducted into the Hall of Fame was obviously the best individual honor that I ever received…but basketball is a team sport so winning the ABA championship is still #1 on my list.
In the 1994 Western Conference 1st round as head coach of Denver you won Games 4 and 5 in OT to become the 1st #8 seed to ever win a playoff series: how on earth did you do it?! What a lot of people forget is in our next series against Utah we were down 3 games to none but almost came all the way back to win that series, which is something that has never been done in the NBA. We had a great group of players who were tired of losing and sacrificed for one another to win. We also had nothing to lose and I think the further that series went the tighter Seattle got.