Dave DeBusschere

Dave DeBusschere

David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American NBA and major league baseball player and coach in the NBA. In 1996, DeBusschere was named as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

DeBusschere was born in Detroit, Michigan, and attended Austin Catholic Preparatory School. There he inspired the "White Shirted Legion" (the tradition of wearing white shirts to the school's games, so as to make fans more visible), and lead his team to the Michigan Class A high school basketball championship in 1958.

He was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after a twelve-year career (1962–1974), in which he averaged 16.1 points and eleven rebounds while being named to eight NBA All-Star teams; he was renowned for his physical style of play and tenacious defense, as he was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team six times.