Dave DeBusschere

• Born: October 16, 1940
• Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan
• Died: May 14, 2003
• Place of death: New York, New York

Sport: Basketball

Early Life

David Albert DeBusschere, born October 16, 1940, spent the first twenty years of his life in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He developed some of his physical strength by spending his afternoons and summers unloading boxcars for his father’s business. Dave attended Austin High School, a Catholic, all-boys institution. He was a top-notch athlete, successful in any sport he tried. “From as early as I can remember,” Dave once recalled, “I just had the drive to excel in sport—football, baseball, basketball, you name it.”

The Road to Excellence

Over the course of his career at Austin, Dave became the most highly publicized basketball player in the state of Michigan up to that time. As a senior, he led Austin to a state championship victory over Benton Harbor. In that game, Dave went up against Benton Harbor’s star, Chet Walker. Their rivalry continued over the years, as both Dave and Walker later became stars in the NBA.

Dave decided to stay home to attend college, receiving an athletic scholarship from the University of Detroit. The team got a bargain in Dave. Not only was he an excellent basketball player, but also he was equally talented on the baseball diamond, where he was a star pitcher. By the time his collegiate career was over, Dave was Detroit’s all-time leading scorer and the top rebounder in school history.

Shortly after graduation in 1962, Dave received a baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox that included a $160,000 bonus, and also signed a contract with the Detroit Pistons to play basketball. Over the next four years, Dave played both sports professionally. The forty-eight consecutive months of competition were very strenuous, and Dave had doubts about his curveball and control on the Major League Baseball level. He was quite successful on the basketball court, however. In his first four seasons with Detroit, he averaged nearly 15 points per game. When the Pistons, hoping he would play basketball exclusively, offered him a new contract as both player and coach, Dave accepted.

The Emerging Champion

At twenty-four, Dave was the youngest head coach in professional sports. With his additional responsibilities of coaching, Dave’s record at the helm of the Pistons was not spectacular. Dave was greatly relieved when he was traded to the New York Knicks on December 19, 1968.

Dave broke the hearts of Detroit fans during his first game with the Knicks. Although he had yet to practice with New York, he scorched his former teammates for 21 points and 15 rebounds on the Pistons’ home court.

In the media spotlight of New York, Dave, although an all-star in Detroit, began to gain recognition as one of the best forwards in the NBA. He was much more comfortable on the Knicks, a more balanced and talented team than the Pistons. He did not score as much as he had in Detroit, but he was able to excel in the areas in which he was most skilled: rebounding and scoring. An intense, tough player, Dave almost always guarded the opposing teams’ best forwards, usually holding them well below their scoring averages. His outstanding defensive efforts were appreciated by other players and coaches, as he was named to the NBA’s all-defensive team every year he played with the Knicks.

New York certainly benefited from Dave’s team-oriented play, and he was a vital member of the teams that won NBA Championships in 1970 and 1973. In the latter year, Dave had his best scoring season with the Knicks up to that point, 16.3 points per game. During the 1973 playoffs, with Knick captain Willis Reed, the center, out with an injury, Dave proved his worth. Without Reed at center, New York coach Red Holzman turned to Dave to guard the great Wilt Chamberlain, who towered over Dave by 7 inches. The unorthodox move paid off, and the Knicks won the contest. Dave, Paul Zimmerman, and Dick Schaap wrote an insightful book about the 1970 champion Knicks titled The Open Man: A Championship Diary (1970).

Continuing the Story

Dave’s high standards of play continued despite his advancing age. When the Knicks needed someone to help pick up the scoring load in the 1973-1974 season, Dave responded with a remarkable 18.1 points per game at thirty-three years of age.

That was Dave’s last season as a professional basketball player, but his presence was still felt off the court, as he put to good use his degree in business administration. Dave was named commissioner of the American Basketball Association (ABA) following his retirement, overseeing spectacular performances from the likes of Julius Erving and George McGinnis. Following the 1976 season, the ABA merged with its longtime rival, the NBA.

Without a league to direct, Dave moved to the front office of a team close to where he had won two NBA Championships with the Knicks, becoming general manager of the New Jersey Nets. In 1982, he was given one of the greatest honors a basketball player can receive: election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Between 1982 and 1986, Dave served as the general manager of the Knicks. He was responsible for choosing Patrick Ewing from Georgetown as the first overall draft pick in the 1985 NBA lottery. After his days as general manager, he became involved in the commercial real estate business. In 1996, Dave was named one of the fifty greatest NBA players of all time. In 2003, he suffered a heart attack and died. Dave will be remembered for his work ethic, superb rebounding skills, and important contribution to two NBA Championship teams.

Summary

It takes not only great talent to play two sports professionally, but hard work and desire as well. Dave DeBusschere possessed all these qualities, as he was able to play both professional baseball and professional basketball for four years. Once dedicated solely to basketball, Dave’s attributes were obvious, and he will always be thought of as one of the grittiest forwards ever to play the game.

Bibliography

Bjarkman, Peter C. The Biographical History of Basketball. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Masters Press, 2000.

DeBusschere, Dave. The Open Man: A Championship Diary. Edited by Paul D. Zimmerman and Dick Schaap. New York: Random House, 1970.

Hareas, John. NBA’s Greatest. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2003.

Kalinsky, George, and Phil Berger. The New York Knicks: The Official Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. New York: Macmillan, 1996.

Mallozzi, Vincent M. Basketball: The Legends and the Game. Willowdale, Ont.: Firefly Books, 1998.

Shouler, Kenneth A. The Experts Pick Basketball’s Best Fifty Players in the Last Fifty Years. Lenexa, Kans.: Addax, 1998.