JR Interview with Dan Issel

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Find a retailer near you, that's serta.com. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio, and coming off of the Denver Nuggets win and championship victory last night, we had to bring on a Denver Nuggets legend. We had to bring on a Hall of Famer. We are talking right now with Dan Issel. Dan, how are you? I'm terrific.

I couldn't be better. The Nuggets are the NBA champs. I know.

I understand. We're going to get into all of your connections and everything you do out in Louisville, but you stay out in Denver full-time. What's the vibe of the city right now? Yeah, it's very exciting.

You know, we've had championships here before, the Broncos and the Avalanche, but this is the first one for the Nuggets, and the fans have just been terrific here, and they have supported this team through good times and bad times, and I'm really happy for them. You know, now we have something to talk about this summer instead of who's playing left guard for the Denver Broncos. Well, in due time, Dan. In due time.

We'll see what happens there. Dan Issel, Nuggets legend, Hall of Famer, is joining us here at the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. You were and still are a legend. You are undersized center, and we currently see what Nikola Jokic is doing right now. What would you compare him to?

Who, if anybody? There isn't any comparison. I mean, you know, you have seen big guys who score more. You have seen big guys who rebound more. I don't think you've ever seen a big guy who assists more, but there is no comparison because he is something we've never seen before. He is almost unguardable, and if you run two people at him, then he's going to find he has amazing peripheral vision. He's going to find the open guy no matter where he is on the floor, so he's just impossible to stop, and I think, you know, that's one of the main reasons, not the only reason, but the main reason that the Nuggets were 16-4 in this playoff run.

Well, Dan, I got to ask you this. When you take a look at Jokic, we can all look at the numbers and the points, the rebounds, the assists, the accumulations. What I appreciate, given his size, is that throughout the majority almost all of his career, he has not really missed time. He'll miss a game here or there, but he's almost at 70-plus games almost every season. You were known as The Horse, 15 years playing ball. What are your thoughts on on him staying healthy and then just so many other players not suiting up?

Yeah, I, you know, this load management thing, to me, is a joke. I mean, these are well-conditioned athletes to play 82 games a year unless you have a serious injury. It's not that tough, and that's why somebody once said, you know, the best ability is availability, and Jokic took some time off in April when the Nuggets were clearly the number one seed in the West, that he probably, if anything was on the line, that he would have played in, and so you're absolutely right. I love people that show up and play every night and don't miss three weeks for a minor injury.

Dan Isilis here with us, the JR Sportbreef Show CBS Sports Radio. You were on the Nuggets when they moved over from the the ABA to the NBA, and we saw Western Conference Finals. We didn't see an NBA Finals appearance. Almost 20 years ago, the Nuggets were at risk of being relocated. What does this team mean to the city that they have finally done this 46, 47 years later?

Yeah, it's just terrific. This has always been a really good basketball town. A really good basketball town. Going back even prior to the ABA, there was an AAU tournament in Denver that was very well attended. The ABA franchise here was always one of the top ABA franchises, and then we were one of the four ABA teams that were included in the merger, and just the second ABA team after the Spurs to win the championship.

It means a lot to everybody here, and hopefully you never know. There could be injuries, there could be complacency, but if everything goes well, I think this is a team that's got a chance to win a couple more because they have a great young core of players. This year, I think it was obvious, they were the best team in the NBA, and they went right through the playoffs. It was a surprise that we played the Miami Heat instead of Philadelphia or Boston or Milwaukee, but I don't think that takes anything away from the championship, and they were the best team in the league this year.

Oh, from beginning until end, Hall of Famer Denver Nuggets legend Dan Issel is joining us here at CBS Sports Radio, the JR Sport Brief Show. When you think about your time, you didn't just play for the Nuggets and stack up records all over the place, you also coached the team, and you were the coach when y'all beat the Sonics back in 94 as an eighth seed. What are your thoughts on how the playoff format has adjusted?

How do you feel about this plan? You see, the Nuggets didn't need it. The Heat got in via play, and what are your thoughts on how the playoff format has changed? Yeah, in the team that the Nuggets swept in the Western Conference Finals, the LA Lakers got in in a playoff. I kind of like the playoff because some teams are still tanking, trying to get the best draft pick possible.

But I like the play in that it keeps more teams interested in getting to the playoffs, which should be the goal. But I like that after the play-in games, I like that all games are seven-game series now. You mentioned in 94 when we beat Seattle, we were the eighth seed and Seattle was the number one seed. They had the best record in the entire NBA that year. That was just a five-game series. I don't know if it was a seven-game series, if we would have been able to win that. But we did, and I like the format now as compared to what we were able to do in 94. Dan Isilis here with us, the chair of SportReshow CBS Sports Radio.

When you look at just the errors, it doesn't matter if it's back in the 90s when you coached or the 70s and 80s when you played. We saw Shaq 20 years ago dominating, and now we see Jokic doing what he's doing at 28 years old. And there's all these conversations and his name justifiably so is being mentioned statistically with the Kareems of the world and the Chamberlain. So what are your thoughts where he stands and exists as a center? Well, I mean, he's doing things that have never been done before. I mean, he's the first player.

Just think about this. How long have the NBA playoffs been going on? He's the first player to lead the playoffs in points, rebounds, and assists. He's doing things that only the greatest superstars in the league have done.

Now, I will say this. I think, you know, you talked about Shaq, and there was a period where Shaq won I think three in a row and was much like Nicola, unguardable. So I think, you know, Jokic has to win a few more of these championships to be considered there. But if he should do that, if he should win two or three more championships, I think you have to put him right at the top of the list.

He's certainly the greatest player in the league right now, and I think he would have to be in the discussion of the greatest players of all time. Dan Iselis here with us as we start to wrap things up. Just over the past 20 years from when you ended your coaching tenure up until now, you have been just re-ingratiated into the Denver Nuggets, the franchise, and attending the finals, and just really being a part of it. What does it mean to you at this stage of your life to be back with the team and then you see them win?

Yeah, it's, you know, it's terrific. I couldn't be happier, although I have nothing to do with this championship other than to be a fan for the Nuggets to include me. They were nice enough. Not only game one, not only was I introduced, but they got seats for all five of my grandchildren. They sent a car after us, and it's just terrific that the Nuggets have taken, you know, have looked at the past during this playoff series. There's a promotion that they do right before the game, and I mean right before the tip-off, where a player comes out, an ex-player comes out and shoots a free throw. And I did it the first game, game number one. Alex English did it in game number two, and David Thompson did it last night in game number five. So I'm very appreciative of the Nuggets that, even though, you know, this has never been done before and they should be hoisted for doing this, the fact that they remembered some of the old-time guys, too, is just great, and it couldn't be a bigger celebration in Denver.

Yeah, Dan, more than an old-time guy, Basketball Hall of Famer for both the overall Basketball Hall of Fame and college. We know what you did at Kentucky. We saw what you did at the ABA.

We know what you did with the Nuggets. What occupies your time right now? How much time you're splitting between Louisville and Denver?

What occupies you today? Yeah, mostly going to grandkids sporting events. I do do a radio show two hours every morning, 10 to noon in Louisville. I do it most of the time from Denver, but as you know, the technology is just terrific, and so I do it from my basement in Denver, and it sounds like I'm in the studio in Louisville. So we do it on ESPN 680 105.7 in Louisville, and two hours is just enough. I wouldn't want it to be any more, but it gives me a reason to get out of bed and check the sports stories of the day. So other than the kids the grandkids sporting events and my little two-hour radio show, that's about all I do these days.

Nuggets legend, Basketball Hall of Famer Dan Issel. This is the final question. Nikolay Jokic wasn't too excited about the parade. Are you going to the parade?

I don't think so. I think I'll watch it. I think I'll watch it on TV. The parade shouldn't be, I don't think, about us old guys. I think the parade ought to be about number one, the players, number two, the coaching staff, and number three, I have a lot of friends who are still on the staff at the Nuggets, and it should be about them.

So I'll definitely watch it on television, but it's time for the younger guys to get the attention. We've been having a great conversation here with Nuggets legend, Basketball Hall of Famer Dan Issel. Dan, I appreciate you taking the time to hop on. I'm going to watch the parade on TV just like you and everybody else, and for Jokic's sake, I hope the parade ends soon so he can go back home.

Job over, we can go home. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We've been chatting with basketball legend, Nuggets legend, Dan Issel. Here on CBS Sports Radio, it is time for a news flash. Here's Pat Boyle.

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