How about a basketball Hall of Famer who graced not one, but two, vintage Topps baseball cards?! Dave DeBusschere was just that player. DeBusschere is best known as the catalyst, after being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Pistons, that took the New York Knicks from a very good to a great team. The result was two NBA titles in 1970 and '73, and another NBA Finals appearance in 1972. After retiring from the NBA DeBusschere was one of the Commissioners of the ABA and later a Knicks front office executive.
Early in his career DeBusschere was talented enough as a baseball pitcher to have played in the major leagues, and while deciding which sport to concentrate on, actually played both professional sports for a time!
Presented here are PSA/DNA certified autographed copies of his two baseball cards, the 1964 Topps #247 and 1965 Topps #297, inked in period ballpoint pen. DeBusschere passed away in 2003 at age 62.
Provenance:
As documented in the story The Great Autograph Hunt from the February 5, 1974 Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, Jack Zimmerman and his grade school buddies Tim Gallagher and Vince Martin started collecting autographs of athletes through the mail, at games and at team hotels, primarily in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. The boys were relentless in their pursuit of baseball, basketball and football players, obtaining the stars and "commons" of the day, plus "old timers" and "legends" that were coaches, broadcasters or responsive through the mail. Jack was locked in on collecting from about 1968 through 1975, until pursuit of his own basketball career took priority. Jack became an All-State high school player, then had a Hall of Fame career hooping at the University of Dayton, followed by several seasons as an overseas pro, including suiting up for the prestigious Maccabi Tel Aviv club. Jack's extensive collection was essentially put in a time capsule in 1976 and has literally followed him all over the world. We are proud to present selected treasures from Jack's collection in our Auction, fresh to the hobby and seeing the light of day for the first time in over 45 years!