Dave DeBusschere vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Dave DeBusschere, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Dave DeBusschere played 12 years in the NBA, 9 less than Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21. Dave DeBusschere had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Dirk Nowitzki had his rookie season in 1998-99. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Dave DeBusschere	12	8	1962-63 to 1973-74
Dirk Nowitzki	21	15	1998-99 to 2018-19

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12


Rookie Season
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1962-63	1998-99
Team	Detroit Pistons	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Div Semis	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	80	29.4	12.7	-	-	8.7	2.6	-	-	-	3.1	5.1	11.8	.430	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.718
difference:	+33	+9.0	+4.5			+5.3	+1.6				-0.9	+2.2	+4.7	+.025				+0.5	+0.9	+.055
Dirk Nowitzki	47	20.4	8.2	0.9	2.6	3.4	1.0	0.6	0.6	1.6	2.2	2.9	7.1	.405	0.3	1.4	.206	2.1	2.7	.773

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	4	39.8	20.0	-	-	15.8	1.5	-	-	-	3.5	6.3	14.8	.424	-	-	-	7.5	11.0	.682
Dirk Nowitzki	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1963-64	1999-00
Team	Detroit Pistons	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	15	20.3	8.6	-	-	7.0	1.5	-	-	-	2.1	3.5	8.9	.391	-	-	-	1.7	2.9	.581
difference:	+67	+15.5	+8.9			+0.5	+1.0				-1.0	+2.8	+4.7	+.070				+1.8	+1.3	+.249
Dirk Nowitzki	82	35.8	17.5	1.2	5.2	6.5	2.5	0.8	0.8	1.7	3.1	6.3	13.6	.461	1.4	3.7	.379	3.5	4.2	.830

Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Dave DeBusschere nor Dirk Nowitzki played in the postseason in their season 2


Season 3
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1964-65	2000-01
Team	Detroit Pistons	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	79	35.1	16.7	-	-	11.1	3.2	-	-	-	3.1	6.4	15.1	.425	-	-	-	3.9	5.5	.700
difference:	+3	+3.0	+5.1			+1.9	+1.1				-0.1	+0.8	+0.1	+.049				+1.6	+1.1	+.138
Dirk Nowitzki	82	38.1	21.8	1.5	7.7	9.2	2.1	1.0	1.2	1.9	3.0	7.2	15.2	.474	1.8	4.8	.387	5.5	6.6	.838

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.9	23.4	1.4	6.7	8.1	1.4	1.1	0.8	1.4	3.7	6.9	16.3	.423	1.3	4.6	.283	8.3	9.4	.883


Season 4
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1965-66	2001-02
Team	Detroit Pistons	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	79	34.1	16.4	-	-	11.6	2.6	-	-	-	3.2	6.6	16.3	.408	-	-	-	3.2	4.8	.659
difference:	+3	+3.9	+7.0			+1.7	+0.2				-0.3	+1.3	+0.3	+.069				+2.6	+2.0	+.194
Dirk Nowitzki	76	38.0	23.4	1.6	8.4	9.9	2.4	1.1	1.0	1.9	2.9	7.9	16.6	.477	1.8	4.6	.397	5.8	6.8	.853

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	8	44.6	28.4	2.1	11.0	13.1	2.3	2.0	0.8	2.8	3.4	9.1	20.5	.445	2.0	3.5	.571	8.1	9.3	.878


Season 5
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1966-67	2002-03
Team	Detroit Pistons	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	78	37.1	18.2	-	-	11.8	2.8	-	-	-	3.8	6.8	16.4	.415	-	-	-	4.6	6.6	.705
difference:	+2	+1.9	+6.9			+1.9	+0.2				-1.2	+1.8	+2.2	+.048				+1.4	+0.3	+.176
Dirk Nowitzki	80	39.0	25.1	1.0	8.9	9.9	3.0	1.4	1.0	1.9	2.6	8.6	18.6	.463	1.9	4.9	.379	6.0	6.9	.881

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dirk Nowitzki	17	42.5	25.3	0.9	10.6	11.5	2.2	1.2	0.9	2.4	3.1	8.8	18.4	.479	1.6	3.6	.443	6.1	6.6	.912


Season 6
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1967-68	2003-04
Team	Detroit Pistons	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Div Semis	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	80	39.1	17.9	-	-	13.5	2.3	-	-	-	3.8	7.2	16.2	.442	-	-	-	3.6	5.4	.664
difference:	+3	+1.2	+3.9			+4.8	+0.4				-1.0	+0.7	+0.8	+.020				+1.2	+0.1	+.213
Dirk Nowitzki	77	37.9	21.8	1.2	7.5	8.7	2.7	1.2	1.4	1.8	2.8	7.9	17.0	.462	1.3	3.8	.341	4.8	5.5	.877

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	6	43.8	19.3	-	-	16.2	2.2	-	-	-	3.8	7.5	17.7	.425	-	-	-	4.3	7.5	.578
difference:	+1	+1.6	+7.3			+4.4	+0.8				-0.6	+1.5	+2.3	+.025				+2.9	+0.9	+.279
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.6	2.6	9.2	11.8	1.4	1.4	2.6	1.2	3.2	9.0	20.0	.450	1.4	3.0	.467	7.2	8.4	.857


Season 7
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1968-69	2004-05
Team	Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	76	38.7	16.3	-	-	11.7	2.5	-	-	-	3.8	6.7	15.0	.444	-	-	-	3.0	4.3	.698
difference:	+2		+9.8			+2.0	+0.6				-1.0	+1.8	+3.5	+.015				+4.9	+4.8	+.171
Dirk Nowitzki	78	38.7	26.1	1.2	8.5	9.7	3.1	1.2	1.5	2.3	2.8	8.5	18.5	.459	1.2	2.9	.399	7.9	9.1	.869

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	10	41.9	16.3	-	-	14.8	3.3	-	-	-	4.3	6.1	17.4	.351	-	-	-	4.1	5.0	.820
difference:	+3	+0.6	+7.4			+4.7					-1.1	+1.8	+2.3	+.051				+3.0	+3.5	+.009
Dirk Nowitzki	13	42.5	23.7	1.9	8.2	10.1	3.3	1.4	1.6	2.5	3.2	7.9	19.7	.402	0.8	2.3	.333	7.1	8.5	.829


Season 8
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1969-70	2005-06
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Mavericks Lost NBA Finals

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	79	33.3	14.6	-	-	10.0	2.5	-	-	-	3.1	6.2	13.7	.451	-	-	-	2.2	3.2	.688
difference:	+2	+4.8	+12.0			+1.0	+0.3				-1.1	+3.1	+5.6	+.029				+4.5	+4.2	+.213
Dirk Nowitzki	81	38.1	26.6	1.4	7.6	9.0	2.8	0.7	1.0	1.9	2.0	9.3	19.3	.480	1.4	3.3	.406	6.7	7.4	.901

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	19	36.9	16.1	-	-	11.6	2.4	-	-	-	3.3	6.8	16.3	.421	-	-	-	2.4	3.6	.662
difference:	+4	+5.8	+10.9			+0.1	+0.5				-0.5	+1.7	+1.9	+.047				+6.5	+6.4	+.233
Dirk Nowitzki	23	42.7	27.0	2.0	9.6	11.7	2.9	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.8	8.5	18.2	.468	1.0	2.9	.343	8.9	10.0	.895


Season 9
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1970-71	2006-07
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	81	35.7	15.6	-	-	11.1	2.7	-	-	-	2.9	6.5	15.3	.421	-	-	-	2.7	3.9	.696
difference:	+3	+0.5	+9.0			+2.2	+0.7				-0.7	+2.1	+1.9	+.081				+3.7	+3.2	+.208
Dirk Nowitzki	78	36.2	24.6	1.6	7.3	8.9	3.4	0.7	0.8	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.2	.502	0.9	2.2	.416	6.4	7.1	.904

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	12	40.7	16.4	-	-	13.0	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	7.0	16.8	.416	-	-	-	2.4	3.7	.659
difference:	+6	+0.9	+3.3			+1.7	+0.5					+1.0	+1.1	+.033				+4.6	+4.6	+.181
Dirk Nowitzki	6	39.8	19.7	4.2	7.2	11.3	2.3	1.8	1.3	2.3	3.3	6.0	15.7	.383	0.7	3.2	.211	7.0	8.3	.840


Season 10
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1971-72	2007-08
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	80	38.4	15.4	-	-	11.3	3.6	-	-	-	2.7	6.5	15.2	.427	-	-	-	2.4	3.3	.728
difference:	+3	+2.4	+8.2			+2.7	+0.1				-0.1	+1.7	+1.9	+.052				+3.8	+3.8	+.151
Dirk Nowitzki	77	36.0	23.6	1.2	7.3	8.6	3.5	0.7	0.9	2.1	2.6	8.2	17.1	.479	1.0	2.9	.359	6.2	7.1	.879

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	16	38.5	16.6	-	-	12.1	2.3	-	-	-	3.2	6.8	15.1	.450	-	-	-	3.0	4.0	.750
difference:	+11	+3.7	+10.2			+0.1	+1.7				-0.6	+1.8	+3.1	+.023				+5.4	+6.4	+.058
Dirk Nowitzki	5	42.2	26.8	2.0	10.0	12.0	4.0	0.2	1.4	2.0	2.6	8.6	18.2	.473	1.2	3.6	.333	8.4	10.4	.808


Season 11
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1972-73	2008-09
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Mavericks Lost West Conf Semis

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	77	36.7	16.3	-	-	10.2	3.4	-	-	-	2.8	6.9	15.9	.435	-	-	-	2.5	3.4	.746
difference:	+4	+1.0	+9.6			+1.8	+1.0				-0.6	+2.7	+4.1	+.044				+3.5	+3.3	+.144
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.7	25.9	1.1	7.3	8.4	2.4	0.8	0.8	1.9	2.2	9.6	20.0	.479	0.8	2.1	.359	6.0	6.7	.890

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	17	37.2	15.6	-	-	10.5	3.4	-	-	-	3.4	6.9	15.6	.442	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.775
difference:	+7	+2.2	+11.2			+0.4	+0.3				-1.3	+1.9	+1.4	+.076				+6.8	+6.9	+.150
Dirk Nowitzki	10	39.4	26.8	1.2	8.9	10.1	3.1	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.1	8.8	17.0	.518	0.6	2.1	.286	8.6	9.3	.925


Season 12
	Dave DeBusschere	Dirk Nowitzki
Season	1973-74	2009-10
Team	New York Knicks	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	71	38.0	18.1	1.9	8.8	10.7	3.6	0.9	0.5	-	3.1	7.9	17.1	.461	-	-	-	2.3	3.1	.756
difference:	+10	+0.5	+6.9	+0.9	+2.1	+3.0	+0.9		+0.5		-0.5	+1.0	+1.4	+.020				+4.3	+4.1	+.159
Dirk Nowitzki	81	37.5	25.0	1.0	6.7	7.7	2.7	0.9	1.0	1.8	2.6	8.9	18.5	.481	0.6	1.5	.421	6.6	7.2	.915

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	12	33.7	12.0	2.1	6.2	8.3	3.2	0.6	0.3	-	3.0	5.3	13.8	.380	-	-	-	1.5	2.4	.621
difference:	+6	+5.1	+14.7	+0.9	+0.8	+0.1	+0.2	+0.2	+0.4		-0.5	+4.4	+3.9	+.167				+5.2	+4.6	+.331
Dirk Nowitzki	6	38.8	26.7	1.2	7.0	8.2	3.0	0.8	0.7	1.7	2.5	9.7	17.7	.547	0.7	1.2	.571	6.7	7.0	.952


Additional Years
* Dirk Nowitzki played 9 seasons more than Dave DeBusschere in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 21, from 2011 to 2019—Dirk Nowitzki played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Dave DeBusschere, Dirk Nowitzki got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Finals MVP 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Star Game

Dave DeBusschere vs. Dirk Nowitzki Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Dirk Nowitzki and Dave DeBusschere, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Season 11

11th Season Stats Comparison

Season 12

12th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years