Dan Issel vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard 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, 3 less than Kawhi Leonard, who played 12. Dan Issel had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Kawhi Leonard had his rookie season in 2011-12. 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
Kawhi Leonard	12	11	2011-12 to 2023-24

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


Rookie Season
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1976-77	2011-12
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis	Spurs 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	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
Kawhi Leonard	64	24.0	7.9	1.6	3.5	5.1	1.1	1.3	0.4	0.7	1.4	3.1	6.3	.493	0.6	1.7	.376	1.1	1.4	.773

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
Kawhi Leonard	14	27.1	8.6	1.3	4.6	5.9	0.6	1.2	0.4	0.9	1.6	3.2	6.4	.500	1.3	2.9	.450	0.9	1.1	.813


Season 2
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1977-78	2012-13
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	Spurs 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
Kawhi Leonard	58	31.2	11.9	1.1	4.9	6.0	1.6	1.7	0.6	1.1	1.7	4.5	9.1	.494	1.1	3.0	.374	1.8	2.2	.825

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
Kawhi Leonard	21	36.9	13.5	2.4	6.7	9.0	1.0	1.8	0.5	1.1	1.9	5.5	10.0	.545	1.1	2.8	.390	1.5	2.3	.633


Season 3
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1978-79	2013-14
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
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	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
Kawhi Leonard	66	29.1	12.8	1.2	5.1	6.2	2.0	1.7	0.8	1.2	1.9	5.1	9.8	.522	1.0	2.8	.379	1.5	1.9	.802

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
Kawhi Leonard	23	32.0	14.3	1.3	5.4	6.7	1.7	1.7	0.6	1.3	2.9	5.3	10.4	.510	1.3	3.2	.419	2.3	3.1	.736


Season 4
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1979-80	2014-15
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs 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	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
Kawhi Leonard	64	31.8	16.5	1.3	5.9	7.2	2.5	2.3	0.8	1.5	2.0	6.2	12.8	.479	1.0	3.0	.349	3.2	3.9	.802

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	7	35.7	20.3	1.9	5.6	7.4	2.6	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.6	7.4	15.6	.477	1.6	3.7	.423	3.9	5.0	.771


Season 5
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1980-81	2015-16
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Spurs 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
Kawhi Leonard	72	33.1	21.2	1.3	5.5	6.8	2.6	1.8	1.0	1.5	1.8	7.7	15.1	.506	1.8	4.0	.443	4.1	4.6	.874

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	10	33.9	22.5	1.4	4.9	6.3	2.8	2.6	1.4	1.6	2.1	8.3	16.6	.500	1.7	3.9	.436	4.2	5.1	.824


Season 6
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1981-82	2016-17
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

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
Kawhi Leonard	74	33.4	25.5	1.1	4.7	5.8	3.5	1.8	0.7	2.1	1.6	8.6	17.7	.485	2.0	5.2	.380	6.3	7.2	.880

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
Kawhi Leonard	12	35.8	27.7	1.6	6.2	7.8	4.6	1.7	0.5	2.2	1.8	8.8	16.8	.525	2.1	4.6	.455	7.9	8.5	.931


Season 7
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1982-83	2017-18
Team	Denver Nuggets	San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards
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	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
Kawhi Leonard	9	23.3	16.2	0.7	4.0	4.7	2.3	2.0	1.0	1.8	1.0	5.8	12.3	.468	1.2	3.9	.314	3.4	4.2	.816

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
Kawhi Leonard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1983-84	2018-19
Team	Denver Nuggets	Toronto Raptors
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

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
Kawhi Leonard	60	34.0	26.6	1.3	6.0	7.3	3.3	1.8	0.4	2.0	1.5	9.3	18.8	.496	1.9	5.0	.371	6.1	7.1	.854

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
Kawhi Leonard	24	39.1	30.5	2.3	6.8	9.1	3.9	1.7	0.7	3.1	2.3	10.1	20.7	.490	2.3	6.0	.379	8.0	9.0	.884


Season 9
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	1984-85	2019-20
Team	Denver Nuggets	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals	Clippers 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	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
Kawhi Leonard	57	32.4	27.1	0.9	6.1	7.1	4.9	1.8	0.6	2.6	2.0	9.3	19.9	.470	2.2	5.7	.378	6.2	7.1	.886

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
Kawhi Leonard	13	39.3	28.2	1.8	7.5	9.3	5.5	2.3	0.8	2.5	2.2	10.1	20.6	.489	1.8	5.6	.329	6.2	7.2	.862


Season 10
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	52	34.1	24.8	1.1	5.4	6.5	5.2	1.6	0.4	2.0	1.6	8.9	17.5	.512	1.9	4.9	.398	5.0	5.7	.885

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	11	39.3	30.4	2.0	5.7	7.7	4.4	2.1	0.8	2.2	2.6	11.1	19.4	.573	2.2	5.5	.393	6.0	6.8	.880

Note: Kawhi Leonard didn't play in 2021-22.


Season 11
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	52	33.6	23.8	1.1	5.4	6.5	3.9	1.4	0.5	1.7	1.6	8.6	16.8	.512	2.0	4.8	.416	4.7	5.4	.871

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	2	40.0	34.5	1.5	5.0	6.5	6.0	2.0	0.5	3.0	2.5	12.0	22.0	.545	3.0	5.0	.600	7.5	8.5	.882


Season 12
	Dan Issel	Kawhi Leonard
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Clippers Lost West 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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	68	34.3	23.7	1.2	4.9	6.1	3.6	1.6	0.9	1.8	1.4	9.0	17.1	.525	2.1	4.9	.417	3.7	4.2	.885

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dan Issel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kawhi Leonard	2	29.5	12.0	1.5	6.5	8.0	2.0	2.0	0.5	2.0	1.5	5.5	12.0	.458	0.0	2.5	.000	1.0	1.5	.667

Dan Issel vs. Kawhi Leonard Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Kawhi Leonard 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