The 15 greatest bigs in New York Knicks history

Dave DeBusschere

Although he logged some serious minutes for the Detroit Pistons, Dave DeBusschere will always be Knick royalty.

Here is a guy who averaged a double-double for twelve consecutive seasons.

He is everything you could hope for in terms of consistency, and after being traded to the Knicks, he was the power forward who was a critical part of the two Knick championships.

He racked up accolades as a New York Knickerbocker, including five All-Star appearances, six career All-Defensive awards (although defensive stats weren’t being logged during most of his career), and of course, a Hall of Fame inductee.

His health and durability were also uncanny. With the exception of his sophomore season, he never played less than 71 games in a season, during a time when medical staff was far less attentive and travel conditions were far worse.

Having attended college at home in Detroit despite fielding phone calls and offers from all across the nation, his nickname “Big D” very well could have stood for Detroit. But as he turned in rugged defensive plays in clutch moments through the early 1970s for the New York Knicks, the D stood far more for defense than anything else.

And back then, as now, as always, defense wins games.

His athleticism even reached beyond basketball, as he pitched four seasons of professional baseball with the Chicago White Sox. Truly a renaissance man, he had all the virtues needed to play a role in making it in the greatest city in the world, and that’s just what he did.