He was at home in the Detroit suburbs when the call came that changed his life forever. Dave DeBusschere was trying to quiet his barking dog so he could hear what Pistons GM Ed Coil was trying to tell him. In a moment of quiet, the news hit him in his soul.
“Dave,” Coil said, “we are trading you to New York.”
It was Dec. 19, 1968. DeBusschere knew the Knicks had coveted him for two years and never quite could swing a deal. He was only 28 years old, but he’d already been a player-coach for three years and a three-time All-Star; he’d even pitched in 36 games for the White Sox in 1962-63, going 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA.
“And suddenly,” DeBusschere would say 30 years later, “the door opened up to the rest of my life.”