Dan Issel vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Dan Issel, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Dan Issel played 9 years in the NBA, 5 less than Dennis Johnson, who played 14. Dan Issel had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Dennis Johnson had his rookie season in 1976-77. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Dan Issel	9	7	1976-77 to 1984-85
Dennis Johnson	14	13	1976-77 to 1989-90

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1976-77	1976-77
Team	Denver Nuggets	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	79	31.7	22.3	2.7	6.1	8.8	2.2	1.2	0.4	-	3.1	8.4	16.2	.515	-	-	-	5.6	7.1	.797
Dennis Johnson	81	20.6	9.2	2.0	1.7	3.7	1.5	1.5	0.7	-	2.7	3.5	7.0	.504	-	-	-	2.2	3.5	.624

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	6	37.0	22.0	3.0	6.7	9.7	2.8	0.8	0.7	-	3.3	8.2	16.0	.510	-	-	-	5.7	7.5	.756
Dennis Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1977-78	1977-78
Team	Denver Nuggets	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	82	34.8	21.3	3.1	7.0	10.1	3.7	1.2	0.5	3.2	3.4	8.0	15.7	.512	-	-	-	5.2	6.7	.782
Dennis Johnson	81	27.3	12.7	1.9	1.8	3.6	2.8	1.5	0.6	2.0	2.6	4.5	10.9	.417	-	-	-	3.7	5.0	.732

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	13	35.4	20.2	3.2	7.2	10.3	4.1	0.5	0.2	3.0	3.3	7.9	16.3	.486	-	-	-	4.3	5.0	.862
Dennis Johnson	22	37.6	16.1	2.1	2.5	4.6	3.3	1.0	1.0	2.5	2.9	5.5	13.4	.412	-	-	-	5.1	7.2	.704


Season 3
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1978-79	1978-79
Team	Denver Nuggets	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	81	33.9	17.0	3.0	6.1	9.1	3.1	0.8	0.6	2.1	2.9	6.6	12.7	.517	-	-	-	3.9	5.2	.754
Dennis Johnson	80	34.0	15.9	1.8	2.9	4.7	3.5	1.3	1.2	2.4	2.6	6.0	13.9	.434	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.781

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	3	36.3	24.3	2.3	7.0	9.3	3.3	0.0	0.0	3.0	5.0	8.0	15.0	.533	-	-	-	8.3	10.3	.806
Dennis Johnson	17	40.1	20.9	2.6	3.5	6.1	4.1	1.6	1.5	3.0	3.7	8.0	17.8	.450	-	-	-	4.9	6.4	.771


Season 4
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1979-80	1979-80
Team	Denver Nuggets	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	82	35.8	23.8	2.9	5.9	8.8	2.4	1.1	0.7	2.0	2.3	8.7	17.3	.505	0.0	0.1	.333	6.3	8.1	.775
Dennis Johnson	81	36.3	19.0	2.1	3.0	5.1	4.1	1.8	1.0	2.8	3.3	7.1	16.8	.422	0.1	0.7	.207	4.7	6.0	.780

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	15	38.8	17.1	1.7	2.6	4.3	3.8	1.8	0.7	2.9	3.2	6.7	16.3	.410	0.3	1.0	.333	3.5	4.1	.839


Season 5
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1980-81	1980-81
Team	Denver Nuggets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	80	33.0	21.9	2.9	5.6	8.5	2.0	1.0	0.7	1.6	3.1	7.7	15.3	.503	0.0	0.2	.167	6.5	8.6	.759
Dennis Johnson	79	33.1	18.8	2.0	2.6	4.6	3.7	1.7	0.8	2.6	3.1	6.7	15.4	.436	0.1	0.6	.216	5.2	6.3	.820

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	7	38.1	19.6	1.0	3.7	4.7	2.9	1.3	1.3	2.7	2.6	7.4	15.7	.473	0.1	0.7	.200	4.6	6.0	.762


Season 6
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1981-82	1981-82
Team	Denver Nuggets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	81	30.5	22.9	2.1	5.4	7.5	2.2	0.8	0.7	2.1	3.0	8.0	15.3	.527	0.0	0.1	.667	6.7	8.1	.834
Dennis Johnson	80	36.7	19.5	1.8	3.4	5.1	4.6	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.2	7.2	15.4	.470	0.1	0.5	.190	5.0	6.2	.806

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	3	34.3	25.3	2.7	4.3	7.0	1.7	1.0	0.3	2.3	3.3	10.7	20.0	.533	0.0	0.0	-	4.0	4.0	1.000
Dennis Johnson	7	38.7	22.3	1.9	2.6	4.4	4.6	2.1	0.6	3.6	4.0	9.0	18.9	.477	0.0	0.4	.000	4.3	5.6	.769


Season 7
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1982-83	1982-83
Team	Denver Nuggets	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	80	30.4	21.6	1.9	5.6	7.5	2.8	1.0	0.5	2.2	2.8	8.3	16.2	.510	0.1	0.2	.211	5.0	6.0	.835
Dennis Johnson	77	33.1	14.2	1.2	3.2	4.4	5.0	1.3	0.5	2.6	2.6	5.2	11.2	.462	0.1	0.4	.161	3.8	4.8	.791

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	8	28.4	20.4	1.6	5.6	7.3	3.1	1.1	0.6	1.3	2.3	8.6	17.0	.507	0.0	0.1	.000	3.1	3.6	.862
Dennis Johnson	3	36.0	18.0	2.0	5.7	7.7	5.7	1.7	0.7	2.7	3.0	7.3	16.0	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.3	4.0	.833


Season 8
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1983-84	1983-84
Team	Denver Nuggets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	76	27.3	19.8	1.5	5.3	6.8	2.3	0.8	0.6	1.6	2.4	7.5	15.2	.493	0.1	0.3	.211	4.8	5.6	.850
Dennis Johnson	80	33.3	13.2	1.1	2.4	3.5	4.2	1.2	0.7	2.2	3.1	4.8	11.0	.437	0.1	0.4	.125	3.5	4.1	.852

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	5	30.6	27.4	2.0	6.0	8.0	1.6	1.2	1.2	3.0	3.0	10.4	20.4	.510	0.2	0.4	.500	6.4	7.8	.821
Dennis Johnson	22	36.7	16.6	1.4	2.2	3.6	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	3.4	5.9	14.5	.404	0.1	0.3	.429	4.7	5.5	.867


Season 9
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	1984-85	1984-85
Team	Denver Nuggets	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	77	21.9	12.8	1.0	3.3	4.3	1.8	0.8	0.4	1.2	2.2	4.7	10.3	.459	0.0	0.1	.143	3.3	4.1	.806
Dennis Johnson	80	37.2	15.7	1.1	2.8	4.0	6.8	1.2	0.5	2.7	2.8	6.2	13.3	.462	0.1	0.3	.269	3.3	3.8	.853

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	15	21.7	12.4	0.9	2.7	3.6	1.8	0.8	0.3	0.9	2.4	4.9	10.6	.459	0.1	0.1	1.000	2.6	3.2	.813
Dennis Johnson	21	40.4	17.3	1.1	2.9	4.0	7.3	1.5	0.4	3.4	3.1	6.8	15.2	.445	0.0	0.7	.000	3.8	4.4	.860


Season 10
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1985-86
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	78	35.0	15.6	0.9	2.6	3.4	5.8	1.4	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.2	13.6	.455	0.1	0.5	.143	3.1	3.8	.818

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	18	39.7	16.2	1.3	2.9	4.2	5.9	2.2	0.3	2.8	3.2	6.1	13.6	.445	0.3	0.9	.375	3.7	4.7	.798


Season 11
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1986-87
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	79	37.1	13.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	1.1	0.5	2.2	2.5	5.4	12.1	.444	0.1	0.8	.113	2.6	3.2	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	23	41.9	18.9	1.0	2.9	4.0	8.9	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.1	7.3	15.7	.465	0.1	1.1	.115	4.2	4.9	.850


Season 12
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1987-88
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	77	34.7	12.6	0.8	2.3	3.1	7.8	1.2	0.4	2.5	2.6	4.6	10.4	.438	0.2	0.6	.261	3.3	3.9	.856

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	17	41.3	15.9	0.9	3.6	4.5	8.2	1.4	0.5	2.6	3.0	5.4	12.4	.433	0.4	0.9	.375	4.8	6.1	.796


Season 13
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1988-89
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	72	32.1	10.0	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.6	1.3	0.3	2.4	2.9	3.8	8.9	.434	0.1	0.7	.140	2.2	2.7	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	3	19.7	2.7	0.7	0.7	1.3	3.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.7	1.3	5.0	.267	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-


Season 14
	Dan Issel	Dennis Johnson
Season	-	1989-90
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	75	27.1	7.1	0.6	2.0	2.7	6.5	1.1	0.2	1.6	2.4	2.7	6.3	.434	0.0	0.3	.042	1.6	1.9	.843

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dennis Johnson	5	32.4	13.8	0.4	2.4	2.8	5.6	0.4	0.4	2.0	3.4	6.0	12.4	.484	0.4	1.2	.333	1.4	1.4	1.000

Dan Issel vs. Dennis Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dennis Johnson and Dan Issel, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14