Dave DeBusschere vs. Melvin Ely Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Melvin Ely 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, 3 more than Melvin Ely, who played 9. Dave DeBusschere had the first of his seasons in 1962-63, while Melvin Ely had his rookie season in 2002-03. 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12
Rookie Season
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1962-63	2002-03
Team	Detroit Pistons	Los Angeles Clippers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Div Semis	Did Not Play

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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
Melvin Ely	52	15.4	4.5	1.2	2.1	3.3	0.3	0.2	0.6	1.0	1.8	1.8	3.6	.495	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.703
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1965-66	2005-06
Team	Detroit Pistons	Charlotte Bobcats
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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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
Melvin Ely	57	23.6	9.8	1.6	3.2	4.9	1.3	0.5	0.8	1.8	2.8	3.8	7.5	.508	0.0	0.0	.000	2.2	3.4	.667
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1966-67	2006-07
Team	Detroit Pistons	Charlotte Bobcats, San Antonio Spurs
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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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
Melvin Ely	30	10.3	3.0	0.5	1.3	1.8	0.6	0.2	0.3	0.9	1.7	1.0	2.7	.363	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.6	.660
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave DeBusschere	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1967-68	2007-08
Team	Detroit Pistons	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Pistons Lost East Div Semis	Hornets Lost West Conf Semis

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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
Melvin Ely	52	11.9	3.9	0.5	2.3	2.8	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.8	1.5	1.6	3.5	.472	0.0	0.0	-	0.6	1.1	.552
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
Melvin Ely	7	8.4	2.1	0.7	0.9	1.6	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.9	0.6	2.1	.267	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.700

Season 7
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1968-69	2008-09
Team	Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks	New Orleans Hornets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div Finals	Did Not Play

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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
Melvin Ely	31	12.0	3.1	1.0	1.1	2.1	0.6	0.1	0.3	0.7	1.9	1.2	3.1	.389	0.0	0.0	-	0.7	1.2	.639
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Melvin Ely didn't play in 2009-10.

Season 8
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1969-70	2010-11
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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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
Melvin Ely	30	12.2	2.3	0.9	1.6	2.5	0.5	0.1	0.4	0.5	1.7	0.9	1.7	.549	0.0	0.0	-	0.4	0.7	.619
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Melvin Ely didn't play in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Season 9
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1970-71	2013-14
Team	New York Knicks	New Orleans Pelicans
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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
Melvin Ely	2	13.5	3.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	2.5	1.5	3.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1971-72	-
Team	New York Knicks	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	-

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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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1972-73	-
Team	New York Knicks	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	-

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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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Dave DeBusschere	Melvin Ely
Season	1973-74	-
Team	New York Knicks	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	-

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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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Melvin Ely	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-