Dan Issel vs. Bob Lanier Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Lanier 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.

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 Bob Lanier, who played 14. Dan Issel had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Bob Lanier had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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.

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	Bob Lanier
Season	1976-77	1970-71
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	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
Bob Lanier	82	24.6	15.6	-	-	8.1	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	6.1	13.5	.455	-	-	-	3.3	4.6	.726
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
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1977-78	1971-72
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	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	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
Bob Lanier	80	38.7	25.7	-	-	14.2	3.1	-	-	-	3.7	10.4	21.1	.493	-	-	-	4.9	6.3	.768
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
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1978-79	1972-73
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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	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
Bob Lanier	81	38.9	23.8	-	-	14.9	3.2	-	-	-	3.4	10.0	20.4	.490	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.773
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
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1979-80	1973-74
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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	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
Bob Lanier	81	37.6	22.5	3.3	9.9	13.3	4.2	1.4	3.0	-	3.4	9.2	18.3	.504	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.797
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	7	43.3	26.3	3.7	11.6	15.3	3.0	0.6	2.0	-	4.0	11.0	21.7	.507	-	-	-	4.3	5.4	.789

Season 5
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1980-81	1974-75
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Pistons 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	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
Bob Lanier	76	39.3	24.0	3.0	9.1	12.0	4.6	1.0	2.3	-	3.1	9.6	18.9	.510	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.802
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	3	42.7	20.3	1.7	9.0	10.7	6.3	1.3	4.0	-	3.3	8.7	17.0	.510	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750

Season 7
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1982-83	1976-77
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Pistons 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
Bob Lanier	64	38.2	25.3	3.1	8.5	11.6	3.3	1.1	2.0	-	2.7	10.6	19.8	.534	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.818
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
Bob Lanier	3	39.3	28.0	4.3	12.3	16.7	2.0	1.0	2.3	-	3.3	11.3	18.0	.630	-	-	-	5.3	6.3	.842

Season 8
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1983-84	1977-78
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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	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
Bob Lanier	63	36.7	24.5	3.1	8.2	11.3	3.4	1.3	1.5	3.6	2.9	9.9	18.4	.537	-	-	-	4.7	6.1	.772
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
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	1984-85	1978-79
Team	Denver Nuggets	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	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	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
Bob Lanier	53	34.6	23.6	3.1	6.2	9.3	2.6	0.9	1.4	3.3	3.4	9.2	17.9	.515	-	-	-	5.2	6.9	.749
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
Bob Lanier	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Dan Issel	Bob Lanier
Season	-	1981-82
Team	-	Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Bucks Lost East 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	74	26.8	13.5	1.2	4.0	5.2	3.0	1.0	0.8	2.2	2.9	5.5	9.9	.558	0.0	0.0	.000	2.5	3.3	.752
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bob Lanier	6	35.3	16.0	3.0	4.5	7.5	3.7	1.3	0.8	2.3	3.5	6.8	13.3	.513	0.0	0.2	.000	2.3	4.2	.560