Dave DeBusschere vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone 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, 7 less than Karl Malone, who played 19. Dave DeBusschere had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Karl Malone had his rookie season in 1985-86. 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
Karl Malone	19	19	1985-86 to 2003-04

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


Rookie Season
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1962-63	1985-86
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 1st Rd

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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	+1.2	+2.2			+0.2	+0.3				-0.5	+1.1	+0.7	+.066				+0.2	+1.4	+.237
Karl Malone	81	30.6	14.9	2.1	6.7	8.9	2.9	1.3	0.5	3.4	3.6	6.2	12.5	.496	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	5.0	.481

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:		+3.8	+1.8			+8.3	+0.5				-1.0	+3.2	+3.2	+.104				+4.7	+4.5	+.259
Karl Malone	4	36.0	21.8	1.5	6.0	7.5	1.0	2.0	0.0	1.5	4.5	9.5	18.0	.528	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	6.5	.423


Season 2
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1963-64	1986-87
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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	+14.5	+13.1			+3.4	+0.4				-1.8	+5.4	+8.4	+.121				+2.2	+3.7	+.017
Karl Malone	82	34.8	21.7	3.4	7.0	10.4	1.9	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.9	8.9	17.3	.512	0.0	0.1	.000	3.9	6.6	.598

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	5	40.0	20.0	3.0	6.6	9.6	1.2	2.2	0.8	3.4	4.0	7.4	17.6	.420	0.0	0.0	-	5.2	7.2	.722


Season 3
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1964-65	1987-88
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz 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	+3.9	+11.0			+0.9	+0.8				-0.5	+4.1	+5.0	+.095				+2.8	+4.1
Karl Malone	82	39.0	27.7	3.4	8.6	12.0	2.4	1.4	0.6	4.0	3.6	10.5	20.1	.520	0.0	0.1	.000	6.7	9.6	.700

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	11	44.9	29.7	3.0	8.8	11.8	1.5	1.2	0.6	3.5	3.2	11.2	23.2	.482	0.0	0.1	.000	7.4	10.2	.723


Season 4
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1965-66	1988-89
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+1	+5.0	+12.7			+0.9	+0.1				-0.4	+3.5	+3.2	+.111				+5.6	+6.7	+.107
Karl Malone	80	39.1	29.1	3.2	7.4	10.7	2.7	1.8	0.9	3.6	3.6	10.1	19.5	.519	0.1	0.2	.313	8.8	11.5	.766

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	3	45.3	30.7	7.3	9.0	16.3	1.3	1.0	0.3	4.3	5.3	11.0	22.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	8.7	10.7	.813


Season 5
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1966-67	1989-90
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
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:	+4	+1.0	+12.8			+0.7					-0.6	+4.3	+3.4	+.147				+3.9	+4.5	+.057
Karl Malone	82	38.1	31.0	2.8	8.3	11.1	2.8	1.5	0.6	3.7	3.2	11.1	19.8	.562	0.2	0.5	.372	8.5	11.1	.762

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	5	40.6	25.2	3.2	7.0	10.2	2.2	2.2	1.0	2.4	4.4	9.2	21.0	.438	0.0	0.2	.000	6.8	9.0	.756


Season 6
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1967-68	1990-91
Team	Detroit Pistons	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Div Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

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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:	+2	+1.2	+11.1			+1.7	+1.0				-0.5	+3.1	+3.4	+.085				+4.7	+5.4	+.106
Karl Malone	82	40.3	29.0	2.9	8.9	11.8	3.3	1.1	1.0	3.0	3.3	10.3	19.6	.527	0.0	0.2	.286	8.3	10.8	.770

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:	+3	+1.2	+10.4			+2.9	+1.0				-0.1	+3.1	+5.5	+.030				+4.3	+2.6	+.268
Karl Malone	9	42.6	29.7	2.6	10.8	13.3	3.2	1.0	1.2	2.9	3.9	10.6	23.2	.455	0.0	0.9	.000	8.6	10.1	.846


Season 7
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1968-69	1991-92
Team	Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Finals	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+5	+1.0	+11.7			+0.5	+0.5				-1.0	+3.2	+3.7	+.082				+5.3	+6.4	+.080
Karl Malone	81	37.7	28.0	2.8	8.4	11.2	3.0	1.3	0.6	3.1	2.8	9.9	18.7	.526	0.0	0.2	.176	8.3	10.7	.778

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:	+6	+1.1	+12.8			+3.5	+0.7				-0.7	+3.2	+0.4	+.170				+6.5	+8.1	+.015
Karl Malone	16	43.0	29.1	2.7	8.6	11.3	2.6	1.4	1.2	2.9	3.6	9.3	17.8	.521	0.0	0.1	.000	10.6	13.1	.805


Season 8
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1969-70	1992-93
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+3	+4.5	+12.4			+1.2	+1.3				-0.1	+3.5	+3.9	+.101				+5.3	+7.0	+.052
Karl Malone	82	37.8	27.0	2.8	8.4	11.2	3.8	1.5	1.0	2.9	3.2	9.7	17.6	.552	0.0	0.2	.200	7.5	10.2	.740

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:	+14	+6.3	+7.9			+1.2	+0.4				-0.9	+2.0	+3.1	+.033				+3.8	+4.0	+.154
Karl Malone	5	43.2	24.0	2.4	8.0	10.4	2.0	1.2	0.4	4.0	4.2	8.8	19.4	.454	0.2	0.4	.500	6.2	7.6	.816


Season 9
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1970-71	1993-94
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+1	+4.9	+9.6			+0.4	+1.3				-0.4	+2.9	+3.6	+.076				+3.5	+5.1	+.002
Karl Malone	82	40.6	25.2	2.9	8.6	11.5	4.0	1.5	1.5	2.9	3.3	9.4	18.9	.497	0.1	0.4	.250	6.2	9.0	.694

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:	+4	+3.2	+10.7			+0.6	+1.6				-0.4	+2.9	+4.3	+.051				+5.0	+6.3	+.079
Karl Malone	16	43.9	27.1	3.3	9.1	12.4	3.4	1.4	0.8	2.1	3.7	9.9	21.1	.467	0.0	0.3	.000	7.4	10.0	.738


Season 10
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1971-72	1994-95
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	Jazz 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:	+2	+0.3	+11.3			+0.7	+0.1				-0.6	+3.6	+3.7	+.109				+3.9	+5.2	+.014
Karl Malone	82	38.1	26.7	1.9	8.7	10.6	3.5	1.6	1.0	2.9	3.3	10.1	18.9	.536	0.1	0.5	.268	6.3	8.5	.742

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	+4.7	+13.6			+1.1	+1.5				-0.4	+2.8	+5.5	+.016				+7.8	+11.6	+.058
Karl Malone	5	43.2	30.2	3.0	10.2	13.2	3.8	1.4	0.4	2.8	3.6	9.6	20.6	.466	0.2	0.6	.333	10.8	15.6	.692


Season 11
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1972-73	1995-96
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

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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:	+5	+1.3	+9.4			+0.4	+0.8				-0.2	+2.7	+2.6	+.084				+3.7	+5.2	+.023
Karl Malone	82	38.0	25.7	2.1	7.7	9.8	4.2	1.7	0.7	2.4	3.0	9.6	18.5	.519	0.2	0.5	.400	6.2	8.6	.723

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:	+1	+3.1	+10.9			+0.2	+1.0					+3.5	+6.7	+.027				+3.8	+7.4	+.201
Karl Malone	18	40.3	26.5	2.6	7.7	10.3	4.4	1.9	0.6	2.5	3.4	10.4	22.3	.469	0.0	0.2	.000	5.6	9.8	.574


Season 12
	Dave DeBusschere	Karl Malone
Season	1973-74	1996-97
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Jazz Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+11	+1.4	+9.3	+0.5	+1.3	+0.8	+0.9	+0.5	+0.1		-0.5	+2.6	+2.1	+.089				+4.1	+5.3	+.001
Karl Malone	82	36.6	27.4	2.4	7.5	9.9	4.5	1.4	0.6	2.8	2.6	10.5	19.2	.550	0.0	0.2	.000	6.4	8.4	.755

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:	+8	+7.1	+14.0	+0.9	+2.2	+3.1	+0.3	+0.8	+0.5			+4.1	+7.7	+.055				+5.7	+7.6	+.099
Karl Malone	20	40.8	26.0	3.0	8.4	11.4	2.9	1.4	0.8	2.7	3.0	9.4	21.5	.435	0.1	0.1	.500	7.2	10.0	.720


Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 7 seasons more than Dave DeBusschere in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 19, from 1998 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 7 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over Dave DeBusschere, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 4 All-Star Game

Dave DeBusschere vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone 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