Dave DeBusschere

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American professional basketball player and coach, and professional baseball player. He played for the Chicago White Sox of MLB in 1962 and 1963 and in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons from 1962 through 1968 and for the New York Knicks from 1968 to 1974. He was also the head coach for the Pistons from 1964 through 1967.

DeBusschere was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1996, DeBusschere was named as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.[1] In October 2021, DeBusschere was again honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[2]

Early life

DeBusschere was born in Detroit to parents Peter Marcel and Dorothy DeBusschere.[3] He attended Austin Catholic Preparatory School and inspired the "White Shirted Legion" (the tradition of wearing white shirts to the school's games to make fans more visible). As a junior, he was named all-state, and in his senior year of 1957–58, in just the school's third year of organized basketball, he led his team to the Michigan Class A high school basketball championship, scoring 32 points despite fouling out midway through the fourth quarter as the Friars defeated Benton Harbor High School and DeBusschere's future NBA rival forward Chet Walker.[4]

“Debusschere” is a Dutch-language surname,[5] as his family had come from Torhout in West Flanders in Belgium.[6] Although its Dutch pronunciation would have been closer to “de-bus-ghe-re”,[7] Dave DeBusschere used an anglicized pronunciation of “De Busher”, by which he was always known.[8]

College career

DeBusschere starred in both basketball and baseball at the University of Detroit. He averaged 24 points a game in basketball, helping Detroit reach the National Invitation Tournament twice and the NCAA basketball tournament once. He also pitched the Titans to three NCAA baseball tournament berths.[9]

Baseball career

In 1962, DeBusschere was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent. He was a pitcher for the White Sox from 1962 to 1963. He pitched a shutout on August 13, 1963, against the Cleveland Indians, giving up six hits, one walk and striking out three. In 22 career at-bats, he had only one hit, a single off Bennie Daniels on July 17, 1963. He pitched in the White Sox's minor league system for two more seasons before giving up pitching to focus on both playing and coaching basketball.[10]

He is one of only 13 athletes to have played in both the NBA and Major League Baseball. The 13 are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Hank Biasatti, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts and Howie Schultz.[11][12][13][14]

Basketball career

Detroit Pistons

DeBusschere was selected by the Detroit Pistons in 1962 NBA draft as a territorial draft selection. During his rookie season, he averaged 12.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, and was later named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, DeBusschere was injured during his second season and only played in 15 games, resulting in the Pistons finishing with a disappointing record of 23–59.

In the 1964–1965 season, at the age of 24, he was given the position of player-coach for the Pistons, and thus became the youngest-ever coach in league history. However, this stint as coach was not successful and he became a full-time player. During the 1968–1969 season, DeBusschere was traded to the New York Knicks for Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives.

While a member of the Pistons, DeBusschere appeared as himself on the April 29, 1963 episode of the game show To Tell the Truth. He received two votes.[15]

New York Knicks

File:Dave DeBusschere 1972.jpeg
DeBusschere was named to the First Team All-Defensive Team every season of his career after the inception of the designation.

DeBusschere, along with future Hall of Famers Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier, became an NBA champion when the Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1970 NBA Finals. With Earl Monroe in the backcourt, they became champions again in 1973, beating the Lakers 4–1 in the finals.

DeBusschere was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983 after a 12-year career (1962–1974) in which he averaged 16.1 points and 11 rebounds while being named to eight NBA All-Star teams. He became a member of the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. He was renowned for his physical style of play and tenacious defense, and he was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team six times.[16]

Life after basketball

DeBusschere retired as a player in 1974, and his no. 22 jersey was retired by the Knicks, though not until many years later; it is thought the delay was due to his taking a front office job with the rival New York Nets of the American Basketball Association upon his retirement. The next year DeBusschere became the ABA's commissioner for the 1975–76 season, which would be the last for the league. He helped bring about the merger between the NBA and the ABA that year.[17] He was later the assistant coach and director of basketball operations of the Knicks during the 1980s, when he drafted fellow Knicks legend Patrick Ewing with the first overall selection in 1985.

DeBusschere and some partners purchased Ring magazine in 1979.[18]

DeBusschere authored a book entitled The Open Man, a chronicle of the New York Knicks' 1969–70 championship season.

Death

In May 2003, DeBusschere collapsed on a Manhattan street from a heart attack and was pronounced dead at New York University Hospital. DeBusschere was interred at Saint Joseph's Church Cemetery in Garden City, New York. DeBusschere, who lived in Garden City, was survived by his wife, Gerri (who died of cancer in 2009),[19] sons Peter and Dennis, and daughter Michelle.[9]

In his honor, the University of Detroit Mercy inaugurated the Dave DeBusschere Scholarship in 2003. It provides support to two student-athletes who must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills.[19]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Template:Nbay Detroit 80 Script error: No such module "sort". 29.4 .430 Script error: No such module "sort". .718 8.7 2.6 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 12.7
Template:Nbay Detroit 15 Script error: No such module "sort". 20.3 .391 Script error: No such module "sort". .581 7.0 1.5 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 8.6
Template:Nbay Detroit 79 Script error: No such module "sort". 35.1 .425 Script error: No such module "sort". .700 11.1 3.2 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.7
Template:Nbay Detroit 79 Script error: No such module "sort". 34.1 .408 Script error: No such module "sort". .659 11.6 2.6 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.4
Template:Nbay Detroit 78 Script error: No such module "sort". 37.1 .415 Script error: No such module "sort". .705 11.8 2.8 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 18.2
Template:Nbay Detroit 80 Script error: No such module "sort". 39.1 .442 Script error: No such module "sort". .664 13.5 2.3 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 17.9
Template:Nbay Detroit 29 Script error: No such module "sort". 37.7 .447 Script error: No such module "sort". .723 12.2 2.2 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.3
Template:Nbay New York 47 Script error: No such module "sort". 39.4 .442 Script error: No such module "sort". .682 11.4 2.7 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.4
Template:NbayTemplate:Dagger New York 79 Script error: No such module "sort". 33.3 .451 Script error: No such module "sort". .688 10.0 2.5 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 14.6
Template:Nbay New York 81 Script error: No such module "sort". 35.7 .421 Script error: No such module "sort". .696 11.1 2.7 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 15.6
Template:Nbay New York 80 Script error: No such module "sort". 38.4 .427 Script error: No such module "sort". .728 11.3 3.6 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 15.4
Template:NbayTemplate:Dagger New York 77 Script error: No such module "sort". 36.7 .435 Script error: No such module "sort". .746 10.2 3.4 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.3
Template:Nbay New York 71 Script error: No such module "sort". 38.0 .461 Script error: No such module "sort". .756 10.7 3.6 .9 .5 18.1
Career 875 Script error: No such module "sort". 35.7 .432 Script error: No such module "sort". .699 11.0 2.9 .9 .5 16.1
All-Star 8 1 20.9 .457 Script error: No such module "sort". .750 6.4 1.4 .1 .0 9.6

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1963 Detroit 4 Script error: No such module "sort". 39.8 .424 Script error: No such module "sort". .682 15.8 1.5 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 20.0
1968 Detroit 6 Script error: No such module "sort". 43.8 .425 Script error: No such module "sort". .578 16.2 2.2 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 19.3
1969 New York 10 Script error: No such module "sort". 41.9 .351 Script error: No such module "sort". .820 14.8 3.3 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.3
1970Template:Dagger New York 19 Script error: No such module "sort". 36.9 .421 Script error: No such module "sort". .662 11.6 2.4 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.1
1971 New York 12 Script error: No such module "sort". 40.7 .416 Script error: No such module "sort". .659 13.0 1.8 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.4
1972 New York 16 Script error: No such module "sort". 38.5 .450 Script error: No such module "sort". .750 12.1 2.3 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 16.6
1973Template:Dagger New York 17 Script error: No such module "sort". 37.1 .442 Script error: No such module "sort". .775 10.5 3.4 Script error: No such module "sort". Script error: No such module "sort". 15.6
1974 New York 12 Script error: No such module "sort". 33.7 .380 Script error: No such module "sort". .621 8.3 3.2 .6 .3 12.0
Career 96 Script error: No such module "sort". 38.4 .416 Script error: No such module "sort". .698 12.0 2.6 .6 .3 16.0

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ ”Debusschere Surname”. Forebears.
  6. ↑ ”Debusschere, David Albert (‘Dave’)”. Encyclopedia.com accessed 13 July 2024. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/debusschere-david-albert-dave
  7. ↑ the surname 'Debusschere' is derived from early West-Flemish Dutch "de-"=the "-busch-"=bush or wood and "-er", meaning "the-bush-er" or "the forester", a woodcuttter or person living in or near a wood.
  8. ↑ ”Dave Debusschere Career Highlights - KNICKS LEGEND!” YouTube video. Posted 18 July 2021. Accessed 13 July 2024. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t3t9nQVlvJQ&t=21s&pp=ygUbZGF2ZSBkZWJ1c3NjaGVyZSBoaWdobGlnaHRz
  9. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Cbignore
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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