Dave DeBusschere vs. Donovan Mitchell Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Donovan Mitchell 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.

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, 4 more than Donovan Mitchell, who played 8. Dave DeBusschere had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Donovan Mitchell had his rookie season in 2017-18. 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.

Rookie Season
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1962-63	2017-18
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Div Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+1	+4.0	+7.8			+5.0	+1.1				-0.4	+2.4	+5.4	+.007				+0.4	+0.2	+.087
Donovan Mitchell	79	33.4	20.5	0.7	3.1	3.7	3.7	1.5	0.3	2.7	2.7	7.5	17.2	.437	2.4	7.0	.340	3.0	3.8	.805
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
difference:	+7	+2.4	+4.4			+9.9	+2.7				-0.3	+3.0	+7.3	+.004				+4.0	+7.1	+.225
Donovan Mitchell	11	37.4	24.4	0.8	5.1	5.9	4.2	1.5	0.4	2.9	3.2	9.3	22.1	.420	2.3	7.3	.313	3.5	3.9	.907

Season 3
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1964-65	2019-20
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+10	+0.8	+7.3			+6.7	+1.1				-0.6	+2.3	+4.3	+.024				+0.1	+0.8	+.163
Donovan Mitchell	69	34.3	24.0	0.8	3.6	4.4	4.3	1.0	0.2	2.7	2.5	8.7	19.4	.449	2.5	6.9	.366	4.0	4.7	.863
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Donovan Mitchell	7	37.7	36.3	0.9	4.1	5.0	4.9	1.0	0.3	4.1	1.6	11.9	22.4	.529	4.7	9.1	.516	7.9	8.3	.948

Season 4
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1965-66	2020-21
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz 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:	+26	+0.7	+10.0			+7.2	+2.6				-1.0	+2.4	+4.3	+.030				+1.8	+1.2	+.186
Donovan Mitchell	53	33.4	26.4	0.9	3.5	4.4	5.2	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.2	9.0	20.6	.438	3.4	8.7	.386	5.0	6.0	.845
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Donovan Mitchell	10	34.6	32.3	0.3	3.9	4.2	5.5	1.1	0.2	2.8	2.0	10.5	23.5	.447	5.0	11.5	.435	6.3	7.6	.829

Season 5
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1966-67	2021-22
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+11	+3.3	+7.7			+7.6	+2.5				-1.4	+2.4	+4.1	+.033				+0.6	+1.9	+.148
Donovan Mitchell	67	33.8	25.9	0.8	3.4	4.2	5.3	1.5	0.2	3.0	2.4	9.2	20.5	.448	3.5	9.8	.355	4.0	4.7	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Donovan Mitchell	6	38.2	25.5	1.0	3.3	4.3	5.7	0.7	0.5	2.7	2.3	8.8	22.2	.398	1.7	8.0	.208	6.2	7.0	.881

Season 6
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1967-68	2022-23
Team	Detroit Pistons	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Div Semis	Cavaliers Lost East 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:	+12	+3.3	+10.4			+9.2	+2.1				-1.3	+2.8	+4.4	+.042				+1.1		+.203
Donovan Mitchell	68	35.8	28.3	0.9	3.3	4.3	4.4	1.5	0.4	2.6	2.5	10.0	20.6	.484	3.6	9.3	.386	4.7	5.4	.867
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	+2.4	+3.9			+11.2	+5.0				-1.0	+1.5	+3.1	+.008				+1.7	+3.9	+.144
Donovan Mitchell	5	41.4	23.2	0.6	4.4	5.0	7.2	2.0	0.6	3.8	2.8	9.0	20.8	.433	2.6	9.0	.289	2.6	3.6	.722

Season 7
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1968-69	2023-24
Team	Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Finals	Cavaliers Lost East 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:	+21	+3.4	+10.3			+6.6	+3.6				-1.7	+2.4	+4.8	+.018				+2.0	+1.5	+.167
Donovan Mitchell	55	35.3	26.6	0.8	4.3	5.1	6.1	1.8	0.5	2.8	2.1	9.1	19.8	.462	3.3	9.0	.368	5.0	5.8	.865
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:		+3.7	+13.3			+9.4	+1.4				-1.4	+4.6	+5.1	+.125				+1.2	+1.5	+.005
Donovan Mitchell	10	38.2	29.6	0.6	4.8	5.4	4.7	1.3	0.3	2.8	2.9	10.7	22.5	.476	2.9	8.2	.354	5.3	6.5	.815

Season 8
	Dave DeBusschere	Donovan Mitchell
Season	1969-70	2024-25
Team	New York Knicks	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf Semis

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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:	+8	+1.9	+9.4			+5.5	+2.5				-1.1	+2.0	+4.9	+.008				+2.0	+1.9	+.135
Donovan Mitchell	71	31.4	24.0	0.8	3.7	4.5	5.0	1.3	0.2	2.1	2.0	8.2	18.6	.443	3.3	8.9	.368	4.2	5.1	.823
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:	+10	+4.9	+13.5			+6.9	+1.5				-1.3	+2.8	+5.3	+.022				+4.9	+6.3	+.080
Donovan Mitchell	9	32.0	29.6	1.2	3.4	4.7	3.9	1.9	0.3	1.9	2.0	9.6	21.6	.443	3.1	9.3	.333	7.3	9.9	.742

Additional Years
* Dave DeBusschere played 4 seasons more than Donovan Mitchell in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 12, from 1971 to 1974—Dave DeBusschere played in 4 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 4 extra years over Donovan Mitchell, Dave DeBusschere got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	4 All-Defensive First Team 4 All-Star Game