Player profile · BOS / GSW / MIL / POR / SEA

Alton Lister

Alton Lister stats, teams and career impact

#1173 all-timeCareer averages · 6.6 PPG · 6.3 RPG · 1.0 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Position: Center
Final NBA team: Portland Trail Blazers
Height / weight: 7 ft 0 in (213 cm) · 240 lb (109 kg)
Born: October 1, 1958 (68 yrs old)
College: Arizona State
NBA seasons: 16 seasons · 1981–82 to 1997–98

Career or season view

Career summaryAlton Lister was a center who played 16 NBA seasons, from 1981–82 through 1997–98.

Career PPG: 6.6
Career RPG: 6.3
Career APG: 1.0; #79 in 1984–85; #1173 all-time

Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Career overview

Why Alton Lister ranks #1173 all time

Alton Lister ranks #1173 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #94.7. His full-career value ranks #1208, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.

Peak#79 in 1984–85

Best league finish

Sustained excellence12 ranked seasons

450+ minutes required per season

Career breadth16 seasons

953 games · Career Value Rank #1208

Head to head

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Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources

Full team history

Teams: Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, and Portland Trail Blazers
Greatest Celtics →Greatest Warriors →Greatest Bucks →Greatest Trail Blazers →Greatest Thunder →

Career shooting

NBA regular season

Field goal: 51.2%FG%
Three-point: 11.1%3P%
Free throw: 59.7%FT%

953 career games · 18,965 minutes

Sources and updateConventional stats and measurements: Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 13, 2026. hussEyquation ranking data through 2025–26. Life dates: Wikidata; conflicting dates checked against Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 17, 2026.

Traditional box score

Alton Lister stats by season

Start with scoring and impact, then switch views for shooting or the full advanced picture. Career percentages use total makes and attempts.

Box impact is an estimate in points per 100 possessions, not the 0–100 Impact Rate score. Zero is league average; higher is better. Rate rank is a league place: No. 1 is best.

Swipe for PPG · RPG · APG · Box impact · Team · G · GS · MPG →

				pts/100 · higher is better
1997–98	0.9	1.6	0.1	-10.30	POR	7	0	6.3	37.5%	—	—	—	-6.8
1996–97	1.6	3.2	0.2	-5.59	BOS	53	2	9.7	41.6%	—	74.2%	#310	-36.9
1995–96	2.2	4.4	0.3	-3.66	BOS/MIL	64	19	11.5	48.6%	—	64.1%	#284	-24.2
1994–95	2.8	3.9	0.2	-3.42	MIL	60	32	12.9	49.3%	0.0%	50.0%	#266	-21.2
1992–93	2.3	2.2	0.3	-10.38	GSW	20	9	8.7	45.2%	—	53.8%	—	-30.2
1991–92	3.9	3.5	0.5	-5.05	GSW	26	12	11.3	55.7%	—	42.4%	—	-19.3
1990–91	6.4	6.3	1.2	-3.72	GSW	77	65	20.2	47.8%	0.0%	56.9%	#259	-57.6
1989–90	4.0	2.7	0.7	-10.13	GSW	3	0	13.3	50.0%	0.0%	57.1%	—	-7.2
1988–89	8.0	6.6	0.7	-1.84	SEA	82	82	22.0	49.9%	—	64.6%	#179	6.0
1987–88	5.6	7.6	0.7	-1.22	SEA	82	55	22.1	50.4%	50.0%	60.6%	#149	29.6
1986–87	11.6	9.4	1.5	-1.23	SEA	75	75	30.5	50.4%	0.0%	67.5%	#148	37.3
1985–86	9.8	7.3	1.2	+0.37	MIL	81	19	22.4	55.1%	0.0%	60.2%	#86	91.4
1984–85	9.9	8.0	1.6	+0.47	MIL	81	80	25.8	53.8%	0.0%	58.8%	#79	107.4
1983–84	7.6	7.4	1.3	-0.77	MIL	82	72	23.8	50.0%	—	62.6%	#133	48.4
1982–83	8.4	7.1	1.4	-0.33	MIL	80	37	23.6	52.9%	—	53.7%	#119	65.6
1981–82	4.5	4.8	1.1	-1.75	MIL	80	23	14.8	51.9%	—	52.0%	#184	6.2
Career	6.6	6.3	1.0	—	BOS/GSW/MIL/POR/SEA	953	—	19.9	51.2%	11.1%	59.7%	—	—

Source: Basketball Reference regular-season totals, accessed Sep 13, 2026.

What these measures mean

Box impact: Estimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average, from the historical box-score model. Zero is league average; higher is better. Historical defense estimates are included where labeled. This is not the live model's lineup-adjusted estimate.
Impact Rate: A 0–100 score comparing performance within one season. Higher is better. This is a score, not points per possession.
Impact estimate: The season model's final estimated points per 100 possessions above league average, before conversion to the 0–100 Impact Rate score. It includes lineup evidence where available. Zero is league average; higher is better.
Impact Rate rank: The player's place among qualified players in that season's Impact Rate ranking. No. 1 is best. This is a rank, not an impact score.
Value contribution / Season Value: Completed seasons use a fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. The live season instead uses Season Value, combining that season's impact with workload.
Career Impact Rank: An all-time rank weighted toward the player's best three, five, and ten seasons.

Career Impact Rank#1173

113.3 composite · lower is better

Best 5#1172

113.0 average league finish

Career Value Rank#1208

189 total value

Impact Rate: 0–100 score within one season. Higher is better.
Box impact: Estimated points per 100 possessions above league average, from the historical model. Zero is average; higher is better.

Career standing

How Alton Lister ranks all time

These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.

Number-one seasons0

Best in the league

Top-five seasons0

Elite finishes

Top-ten seasons0

Upper-tier finishes

Top-10 Impact Margin0.0

Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons

Career Composite Score113.3

Best 3, Best 5, and Best 10 average league finishes receive 50%, 30%, and 20% window weights. Missing seasons receive a replacement finish just below the player's typical qualified field. Lower is better.

Best 3 effective weight: 74%
Missing-season finish: 257.0
Qualified seasons: 12
All-time rank: #1173

Strongest seasons

Every season

Alton Lister advanced stats by season

Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.

More advanced statsAge, minutes, impact, rank, value and data coverage

					pts/100 · higher is better	0–100 · higher is better
1997–98Historical Defense Estimate	POR	39	7	44	-10.30	—	—	-6.8	—	Limited
1996–97Historical Defense Estimate	BOS	38	53	516	-5.59	2.2	#310	-36.9	8th	Standard
1995–96Historical Defense Estimate	BOS/MIL	37	64	735	-3.66	12.9	#284	-24.2	16th	Standard
1994–95Historical Defense Estimate	MIL	36	60	776	-3.42	14.2	#266	-21.2	19th	Standard
1992–93Historical Defense Estimate	GSW	34	20	174	-10.38	—	—	-30.2	—	Limited
1991–92Historical Defense Estimate	GSW	33	26	293	-5.05	—	—	-19.3	—	Limited
1990–91Historical Defense Estimate	GSW	32	77	1,552	-3.72	11.3	#259	-57.6	7th	Broad
1989–90Historical Defense Estimate	GSW	31	3	40	-10.13	—	—	-7.2	—	Limited
1988–89Historical Defense Estimate	SEA	30	82	1,806	-1.84	32.3	#179	6.0	32nd	Broad
1987–88Historical Defense Estimate	SEA	29	82	1,812	-1.22	40.8	#149	29.6	43rd	Broad
1986–87Historical Defense Estimate	SEA	28	75	2,288	-1.23	42.6	#148	37.3	49th	Broad
1985–86Historical Defense Estimate	MIL	27	81	1,812	+0.37	66.5	#86	91.4	63rd	Broad
1984–85Historical Defense Estimate	MIL	26	81	2,091	+0.47	69.2	#79	107.4	68th	Broad
1983–84Historical Defense Estimate	MIL	25	82	1,955	-0.77	46.8	#133	48.4	48th	Broad
1982–83Historical Defense Estimate	MIL	24	80	1,885	-0.33	53.4	#119	65.6	58th	Broad
1981–82Historical Defense Estimate	MIL	23	80	1,186	-1.75	28.0	#184	6.2	26th	Broad

Career movement

Alton Lister's box impact by season

Peak box impact +0.47 points per 100 possessions in 1984–85 · 16 seasons · 18,965 minutes

Box impact estimates points per 100 possessions above each season's league average. Zero is average; higher is better. Rank labels show Impact Rate league places, not ranks on this chart's box-impact scale.

Box impact · points per 100 possessionsMinutes

—’94

Player-specific impact scaleWorkload

Career comparison

Compare the shape, not the calendar

Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.

Compare with a similar careerOpen full comparison →

Alton ListerLaSalle Thompson

Box impactEra-adjusted points per 100 possessions above league average · higher is better · dashed marker means the player did not play

Alton Lister and LaSalle Thompson era-centered impact values by NBA season number
NBA season	Alton Lister	LaSalle Thompson
1	-1.7	-1.8
2	-0.3	0.0
3	-0.8	-0.5
4	0.5	0.3
5	0.4	-0.6
6	-1.2	-1.5
7	-1.2	-1.6
8	-1.8	-3.7
9	-10.1	-3.5
10	-3.7	-3.3
11	-5.1	-3.9
12	-10.4	-8.1
13	-3.4	-6.2
14	-3.7	-4.8
15	-5.6	-11.2
16	-10.3	Did not play

NBA season number

Similar career arcs

Players with careers similar to Alton Lister

The career-similarity score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and experience-aligned trajectory. It describes career shape, not playing style, equal ability, or probability.

C · All-Time Career #1257

LaSalle Thompson

career similarity score

93/100 closest-season score · 1984–85 ↔ 1986–87 C · All-Time Career #1405

Tony Battie

career similarity score

94/100 closest-season score · 1984–85 ↔ 2002–03 C · All-Time Career #1579

Robin Lopez

career similarity score

95/100 closest-season score · 1984–85 ↔ 2015–16

How to read this page

Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played; completed player-profile rows instead show each season's fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. Career Impact Rank rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →