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Player profile · SEA
Dean Tolson
Dean Tolson stats, teams and career impact
#1786 all-timeCareer averages · 5.0 PPG · 2.2 RPG · 0.4 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded
- Position
- Power forward
- Final NBA team
- Seattle SuperSonics
- Height / weight
- 6 ft 8 in (203 cm) · 190 lb (86 kg)
- Born
- November 25, 1951 (74 yrs old)
- College
- Arkansas
- NBA seasons
- 3 seasons · 1974–75 to 1977–78
Career summaryDean Tolson was a power forward who played 3 NBA seasons, from 1974–75 through 1977–78.
- Career PPG
- 5.0
- Career RPG
- 2.2
- Career APG
- 0.4
- #10 in 1976–77
- #1786 all-time
Best-Season Impact Rank
Career Impact Rank
Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded
Career overview
Why Dean Tolson ranks #1786 all time
Dean Tolson ranks #1786 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #166.7. His full-career value ranks #1586, so longevity is a major reason he lands this high.
450+ minutes required per season
80 games · Career Value Rank #1586
Head to head
Compare Dean Tolson with…
Suggested matchups from basketball rivalries, comparable roles, and similar careers. Compare career impact, peak seasons, and the numbers behind the result.
- Dean Tolson vs. Greg Oden Similar career path
- Dean Tolson vs. Sean May Similar career path
- Dean Tolson vs. Wallace Bryant Similar career path
- Dean Tolson vs. Tony Dumas Similar career path
- Dean Tolson vs. Bevo Nordmann Similar career path
- Dean Tolson vs. Žarko Čabarkapa Similar career path
- Dean Tolson vs. Glenn Hansen Same-era comparison
- Dean Tolson vs. Glenn McDonald Same-era comparison
- Dean Tolson vs. Connie Norman Same-era comparison
- Dean Tolson vs. Roger Brown Same-era comparison
Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources
Full team history
- Teams
- Seattle SuperSonics
Career shooting
NBA regular season- Field goal
- 54.6%FG%
- Three-point
- —3P%
- Free throw
- 54.5%FT%
80 career games · 681 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
Dean Tolson 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 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | -11.96 | SEA | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 0.0% | — | — | — | -1.5 |
| 1976–77 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 0.5 | +3.33 | SEA | 60 | 0 | 9.8 | 56.6% | — | 53.5% | #10 | 69.6 |
| 1974–75 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | -6.17 | SEA | 19 | 0 | 4.6 | 43.2% | — | 64.7% | — | -8.0 |
| Career | 5.0 | 2.2 | 0.4 | — | SEA | 80 | — | 8.5 | 54.6% | — | 54.5% | — | — |
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.
187.0 composite · lower is better
198.0 average league finish
60 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 Dean Tolson ranks all time
These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.
Best in the league
Elite finishes
Upper-tier finishes
Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons
Career Composite Score187.0
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
- 245.0
- Qualified seasons
- 1
- All-time rank
- #1786
Strongest seasons
Every season
Dean Tolson 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
Career movement
Dean Tolson's box impact by season
Peak box impact +3.33 points per 100 possessions in 1976–77 · 3 seasons · 681 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
—’76
Player-specific impact scaleWorkload
Early-career comparison
Compare the first 3 seasons
Both players are limited to their first 3 seasons. Later seasons never affect the selection or score, and the result is not a career prediction.
Dean TolsonGreg Oden
| NBA season | Dean Tolson | Greg Oden |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -6.2 | -1.6 |
| 2 | 3.3 | 2.6 |
| 3 | -12.0 | -7.2 |
NBA season number · first 3 seasons only
Similar starts
Players with starts similar to Dean Tolson
The start-similarity percentile compares era-relative impact, season-relative workload, trajectory, debut age, and role across exactly 3 seasons and 2,104 eligible starts. Higher means closer; it is not a probability or forecast.
C · All-Time Career #2147
Greg Oden
44.3start similarity percentile
Impact: closeWorkload: differentTrend: differentAge: closeRole: close
Limited evidence · first 3 seasonsClosest early-season pairing · 1976–77 ↔ 2009–10PF · All-Time Career #2438Sean May
36.8start similarity percentile
Impact: closeWorkload: closeTrend: differentAge: closeRole: very close
Limited evidence · first 3 seasonsClosest early-season pairing · 1976–77 ↔ 2006–07C · All-Time Career #2067Wallace Bryant
33.6start similarity percentile
Impact: closeWorkload: very closeTrend: differentAge: very closeRole: close
Limited evidence · first 3 seasonsClosest early-season pairing · 1976–77 ↔ 1984–85Impact 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 →