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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Dave DeBusschere
Career at a glance
Dave DeBusschere played 12 NBA regular seasons between 1962 and 1974, appearing in 875 games and averaging 16.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He played for 2 teams: Detroit (1962–69, 440 games), New York (1968–74, 435 games). His best scoring season was 1966–67 with Detroit: 18.2 points per game over 78 games.
He rebounded best in 1967–68 at 13.5 per game. Championship seasons: 1969–70 (New York), 1972–73 (New York). In the playoffs he appeared in 8 postseason runs (96 games, 16.0 points per game).
Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 14,000 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Dave DeBusschere
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 Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1996, DeBusschere was named as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. 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.
- Born
- October 16, 1940 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
- Listed weight
- 220 lb (100 kg)
- Position
- Power forward / small forward
- High school
- Austin Catholic Preparatory School (Detroit, Michigan)
- College
- Detroit (1959–1962)
- NBA draft
- 1962: territorial pick
- Playing career
- 1962–1974
Career highlights and awards
- 2× NBA champion (1970, 1973)
- 8× NBA All-Star (1966–1968, 1970–1974)
- 6× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969–1974)
- All-NBA Second Team (1969)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (1963)
- NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th)
- No. 22 retired by New York Knicks
- 2× Second-team All-American – NEA (1961, 1962)
- Second-team All-American – NABC (1961)
- 3× Third-team All-American – UPI (1960–1962)
- Third-team All-American – AP, NABC (1962)
- No. 22 retired by Detroit Mercy Titans
- Fourth-team Parade All-American (1958)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962–63 | Detroit | 80 | — | 29.4 | .430 | — | .718 | 8.7 | 2.6 | — | — | 12.7 |
| 1963–64 | Detroit | 15 | — | 20.3 | .391 | — | .581 | 7.0 | 1.5 | — | — | 8.6 |
| 1964–65 | Detroit | 79 | — | 35.1 | .425 | — | .700 | 11.1 | 3.2 | — | — | 16.7 |
| 1965–66 | Detroit | 79 | — | 34.1 | .408 | — | .659 | 11.6 | 2.6 | — | — | 16.4 |
| 1966–67 | Detroit | 78 | — | 37.1 | .415 | — | .705 | 11.8 | 2.8 | — | — | 18.2 |
| 1967–68 | Detroit | 80 | — | 39.1 | .442 | — | .664 | 13.5 | 2.3 | — | — | 17.9 |
| 1968–69 | Detroit | 29 | — | 37.7 | .447 | — | .723 | 12.2 | 2.2 | — | — | 16.3 |
| 1968–69 | New York | 47 | — | 39.4 | .442 | — | .682 | 11.4 | 2.7 | — | — | 16.4 |
| 1969–70† | New York | 79 | — | 33.3 | .451 | — | .688 | 10.0 | 2.5 | — | — | 14.6 |
| 1970–71 | New York | 81 | — | 35.7 | .421 | — | .696 | 11.1 | 2.7 | — | — | 15.6 |
| 1971–72 | New York | 80 | — | 38.4 | .427 | — | .728 | 11.3 | 3.6 | — | — | 15.4 |
| 1972–73† | New York | 77 | — | 36.7 | .435 | — | .746 | 10.2 | 3.4 | — | — | 16.3 |
| 1973–74 | New York | 71 | — | 38.0 | .461 | — | .756 | 10.7 | 3.6 | .9 | .5 | 18.1 |
| Career | 875 | — | 35.7 | .432 | — | .699 | 11.0 | 2.9 | .9 | .5 | 16.1 | |
| All-Star | 8 | 1 | 20.9 | .457 | — | .750 | 6.4 | 1.4 | .1 | .0 | 9.6 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Detroit | 4 | — | 39.8 | .424 | — | .682 | 15.8 | 1.5 | — | — | 20.0 |
| 1968 | Detroit | 6 | — | 43.8 | .425 | — | .578 | 16.2 | 2.2 | — | — | 19.3 |
| 1969 | New York | 10 | — | 41.9 | .351 | — | .820 | 14.8 | 3.3 | — | — | 16.3 |
| 1970† | New York | 19 | — | 36.9 | .421 | — | .662 | 11.6 | 2.4 | — | — | 16.1 |
| 1971 | New York | 12 | — | 40.7 | .416 | — | .659 | 13.0 | 1.8 | — | — | 16.4 |
| 1972 | New York | 16 | — | 38.5 | .450 | — | .750 | 12.1 | 2.3 | — | — | 16.6 |
| 1973† | New York | 17 | — | 37.1 | .442 | — | .775 | 10.5 | 3.4 | — | — | 15.6 |
| 1974 | New York | 12 | — | 33.7 | .380 | — | .621 | 8.3 | 3.2 | .6 | .3 | 12.0 |
| Career | 96 | — | 38.4 | .416 | — | .698 | 12.0 | 2.6 | .6 | .3 | 16.0 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 6″
- Weight
- 220 lb
- Position
- Power forward / small forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- Not listed
- Draft pick
- Undrafted / not listed
Height, Weight, Position, Country: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
View the official NBA player profile ↗