He’s Seen Them All : Dan Issel Reflects on the Coaches, Players He’s Known in His Career

In 15 years as a professional basketball player, Dan Issel has played with and against many of the game’s greatest players. He also has had several interesting and provocative coaches.

Now that Issel is retiring, he was asked to reflect on various people involved in his career:

--On Adolph Rupp, his coach at the University of Kentucky: “He’s a legend, certainly, in Kentucky. While I was playing for Coach Rupp, I really didn’t know him. I got to know him much better after I was out of school. He was a tough man, and he enjoyed the reputation of being a difficult man to play for. He demanded perfection, yet was a very gracious man.”

--On Hubie Brown, his coach when the Kentucky Colonels won the ABA title in 1974-75: “He is probably the best prepared coach there is. He kept all kind of stats and told you how many times we ran a certain play the last game against a team and where we scored from on the play. He was very disciplined, too.”

--On Larry Brown, his first coach with Denver: “Larry is an excellent teacher. He is definitely better suited for the college game than the pro game, as far as developing talent and bringing it along. Larry is more of a teacher than a coach.”

--On Doug Moe, the Nuggets’ current coach: “I gave up trying to explain Doug Moe long ago. Doug is the exact opposite of Larry. Doug could never be a college coach because he has no discipline. He’s a great guy for the pros because he’s been there before and he understands.

“If I was asked to choose any coach, I’d much prefer Doug’s style. The thing I like about Doug is he doesn’t take it personally. If you mess up and he hollers and screams, you had it coming. When the game’s over, it’s forgotten. You can go have dinner with him. I’ve played for coaches where if you screwed up once, they wouldn’t talk to you for days.”

--On Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “Kareem is certainly the best I’ve played against. I can’t imagine too many people better than him. He has it all--the championships, the statistics. I have tremendous respect for Kareem, and I’ve had enough decent games against him that I hope he respected the things I did.”

--On Moses Malone: “I don’t think Moses has the natural ability Kareem has, but Moses is an outstanding worker. A lot of quickness underneath. If you let up against him, he’ll embarrass you.”

--On Dan Issel: “I got a good salary, but I never short-changed anybody. Not the fans, not the man who signed my paycheck. I gave it everything I had.”

ALL-TIME NBA-ABA SCORING LIST

NO PLAYER YR G PTS AVG 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 16 1249 33262 26.7 2 Wilt Chamberlain 14 1045 31419 30.1 3 *Julius Erving 14 1109 27681 25.1 4 *Dan Issel 15 1218 27482 22.6 5 Elvin Hayes 16 1303 27313 21.0 6 Oscar Robertson 14 1040 26710 25.7 7 John Havlicek 16 1270 26395 20.8 8 *Rick Barry 14 1020 25279 24.8 9 *George Gervin 13 978 25270 25.9 10 Jerry West 14 932 25192 27.0

* Played in the ABA