Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson are two of the most famous, “modern,” two-sport professional athletes. But did you know there is an NBA Hall of Famer who also pitched for the Chicago White Sox? Among the 13 athletes to play in the NBA and MLB, Dave DeBusschere was undoubtedly the most successful at basketball. Still, many of today’s collectors may not know a lot about him, so in this piece, I’ll share his professional accolades and history along with every baseball and basketball card Topps printed for him.
Dave DeBusschere attended the University of Detroit between 1959 and 1962. He averaged 24 points per game, making the NIT twice and the NCAA tournament once. He also pitched for the baseball team, leading them to 3 NCAA tournament appearances.
He was signed as a free agent by the White Sox in 1962. The same year, he was a territorial draft selection in the 1962 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. He played for the White Sox in the majors from 1962-1963, in the NBA for the Pistons between 1962 and 1968, and for the New York Knicks between 1968 and 1974. After two more years of minor league pitching, he eventually gave up baseball to concentrate on playing and coaching basketball.
He had a career 3-4 win/loss record as a pitcher with a 2.90 earned run average as a baseball player.
His first baseball card was in the 1963 Topps set, with two variations.
1963 Topps #54 – 1963 Rookie Stars
1963 Topps #54 – 1962 Rookie Stars
He also had cards in the 1964 and 1965 Topps baseball sets.
1964 Topps #247 Dave DeBusschere
1965 Topps #297 Dave DeBusschere
DeBusschere had an impressive NBA career. He was known as an elite defensive player, which resulted in his election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. Over his career, he averaged 16.1 points per game, 11 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game. He was a two-time NBA champion with the Knicks, made 8 All-Star games, and was a six-time All-Defensive First Team member.
His first basketball card was in the notoriously rare 1968 Topps Test release, so his 1969 Topps Tall Boy is more classically considered his first Topps basketball card.
1968 Topps Test #11 Dave DeBusschere
1969 Topps #85 Dave DeBusschere
Topps also printed cards for him in 1970, 71, 72, and 73, and he was on the Knicks Team Leaders card in 1974.
1970 Topps #135 Dave DeBusschere
1971 Topps #107 Dave DeBusschere
1972 Topps #105 Dave DeBusschere
1973 Topps #30 Dave DeBusschere
1974 Topps #93 New York Knicks Team Leaders
Today, most athletes commit to a single sport long before going professional, though some successful two-sport athletes play multiple sports in college. Like Tim Tebow or Michael Jordan, others have tried to transition between sports, but few have had Dave DeBusschere’s success.
PS: The 13 men who have played in the NBA and MLB are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Hank Biasatti, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts, and Howie Schultz.
In the introduction to my article The Finer Points of Baseball For Everyone Instructional Booklets I mentioned that I only discovered them from my hunt for their basketball-related cousins. Between that and a $10,500 sale for a complete set of 12 booklets in the fall of 2023, it seemed appropriate to dive deep into these incredible basketball collectibles.
How To Play Better Basketball 101
A few auction catalogs and VintageBasketball.com show that a complete set of How To Play Better Basketball booklets has twelve items. Here’s the checklist:
Ball Handling
Basic Rules and Court Layout
Conditioning
How To Dribble
How to Pass
How to Pivot and Fake
How to Shoot
Drills for Defense
Drills for Offense
Man-To-Man Defense
Plays for Offense
Zone Defense
Like the baseball booklets, they’re full-color printings in a newspaper-like material saddle-stitched like a magazine. However, I keep reading that the basketball ones are 4-7/8’’ x 3-1/4’’ while the baseball ones are ~ 4-5/8″ x 3-3/8’’. However, I suspect they were printed and manufactured by the same people and are likely the same size, with a bit of variation from cutting back in the day. While the baseball booklets each have 16 pages, the basketball books have been described as having eight pages, but I haven’t found a complete set of scans from any of them, nor have I been able to speak with anyone who owns one; please reach out if you have one!
Now, not only are the basketball variations way rarer than the baseball ones but there are also two variations!
Hood Diary How To Play Better Basketball Booklets
While the baseball booklets have dozens of advertising backs through the years, the basketball ones only appear to have one produced around 1963 for Hood Dairy when the Bob Cousy Hood Dairy basketball card was produced.
VintageBasketball says they have a Copyright for Lane and Young Incorporated inside with an address of 128 Mallory Ave. New Jersey City, NJ.
Robert Edwards Auctions sold a collection of six of these booklets with a Hood Diary advertisement, a Bob Cousy quote, and his facsimile autograph on the back that they dated to 1963 in the description. They did mention that they vary a bit from natural diamond cuts when it comes to sizing. They sold for just $360 in the summer of 2021.
REA’s 1963 Hood Dairy How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 1
REA’s 1963 Hood Dairy How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 2
REA’s 1963 Hood Dairy How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 3
REA’s 1963 Hood Dairy How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 4
Interestingly, underneath the right side logo that says “Another Hood Food For Fitness,” there is an indistinguishable copyright emblem. That same logo appears on the baseball booklets; it’s just another point showing how they’re related.
1962 Finer Points Of Baseball DX Dealer Booklet
Indistinguishable Copyright Emblem
1968 Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklet Pack Inserts
The How To Play Better Basketball Booklets’ second variation was blank-backed and used as an insert in 1968 Topps basketball test packs. The Topps Archive’s blog wrote a post called Better And Better that shared some history behind the test packs and booklets. In the summer of 2017, he got to see the pack, cards, and How To Shoot baseball booklet and noted that it was folded in half to fit in the pack, that the interior was set up like a small comic book, and that the back of it (the booklet) was blank. Here’s the photo he shared.
The Topps Archives Photo of MHCC’s 1968 Topps Test Pack
In September 2017, Mile High Card Co. sold an opened 1968 Topps Test basketball pack, booklet, and cards for $4521.60. They described the booklet as having eight pages of colorized diagrams but having no mention of Topps; here’s their auction photo.
MHCC 1968 Topps Test Pack, Booklet, And Cards
In the summer of 2021, REA sold a collection of seven different blank-backed folded How To Play Better Basketball booklets for $6600. Again, Topps folded down the middle because the booklets were too large for the pack otherwise.
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 1
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 2
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 3
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklets – Image 4
Finally REA sold the following complete set of 12 booklets plus an original 1968 Topps Test envelope for $10,500 in the fall of 2023.
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklets Set of 12 – Image 1
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklets Set of 12 – Image 2
During bidding, I reached out to REA for a bit more information. They confirmed that each booklet was blank-backed, but the only one that displayed any condition issues was the How To Shoot Booklet; none of the others were folded, so perhaps they were extras that didn’t make it into packs. Also, I asked for some information about the internal copyright; they sent me back this photo showing a stamped 1966 copyright and the same Lane & Young, Inc. data that VintageBasketball said was in the Hood Dairy versions of the basketball booklets.
REA’s Topps Test How To Play Better Basketball Booklet Copyright Example
The baseball booklets all have a specific year copyright and either a Vital Publications, Inc. or WM. C. Popper & Co. copyright.
Final Thoughts
Like the Finer Points of Baseball For Everyone booklets, the How To Play Better Basketball items are another great example of a significant historical collectible; the basketball ones are more card-adjacent. However, despite a clear relationship between the sets of booklets (appearance, type, design, that little copyright symbol on the backs of both), I haven’t figured out a relationship between Vital Publications/WM. C. Popper & Co. and Lane & Young Inc., whose copyrights were printed inside the booklets. So, if you have more information about these companies or booklets, please leave a comment or email me.
