MLB.com

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

Dave DeBusschere went 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA in 36 games for the Sox. (AP file)

Gene Conley was the first two-sport professional athlete, an accomplishment made famous in later years by the likes of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. Conley played for the Boston Celtics and spent 11 years in professional baseball, but DeBusschere was right behind him.

In 1964, the White Sox lost the American League pennant by one game to the powerful New York Yankees. So there were plenty of front-line pitchers for Chicago in Florida for Spring Training 1965.

Bill "Moose" Skowron, an infielder with the White Sox from 1964-67, vividly remembers one particular pitcher who didn't break camp with the team. He was 6 feet 8 inches tall and could throw in the mid-90s.

His name was Dave DeBusschere. The young hurler had pitched in parts of the 1962 and '63 seasons for the White Sox, going 3-4 with a 2.90 ERA in 36 games, including 10 starts.

"Dave was one heck of a pitcher," said Skowron, who serves as a community relations representative for the Sox, before Wednesday's game. "He could have stayed in the big leagues because he threw so hard. But he really took to basketball."

At 24, DeBusschere was the youngest coach in NBA history, serving as player-coach of the Pistons. Traded to the Knicks in 1968, he played for championship teams in '70 and '73.

DeBusschere also served as the last commissioner of the American Basketball Association and was general manager of the Knicks and the man who selected Patrick Ewing in the first NBA draft lottery in 1985. DeBusschere's uniform number, 22, was retired by the Knicks and hangs from the rafters at Madison Square Garden.

"As a player, coach, general manager and ABA commissioner, Dave DeBusschere was a winner," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "He was a hard-nosed, blue-collar hero who gave all of his considerable energy to our game. Our game has lost an icon and the world has lost a good man."

Skowron remembers DeBusschere as a very polite young man with great potential, a pitcher who couldn't quite beat out the likes of Gary Peters, Joel Horlen, Hoyt Wilhelm, Eddie Fisher and Bob Locker on the 1965 staff.

Tom McCraw, currently the Expos' first-base coach, played with Debusschere for the White Sox.

"When he was in Chicago, I admired him. And I'm not saying that because he is deceased," McCraw said. "I'm saying it because I admired the way he handled two sports. He was just in the throes of trying to decide which way he wanted to go -- whether he was going to the NBA, stay there, or if he wanted to play with the White Sox and be a Major League pitcher. He was in the Major Leagues in both sports.

"I admired the way he handled it -- how he went about his dedication to baseball when he was there. He was a great guy."

White Sox bench coach Joe Nossek remembers a raw but equally talented version of DeBusschere. Nossek was an All-American for Ohio University and went up against DeBusschere, the University of Detroit's top pitcher, with a trip to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series on the line.

DeBusschere quickly took care of Nossek and his Bobcats teammates.

"He looked like he was right on top of you when he threw the ball," Nossek said of DeBusschere. "He had very little trouble putting us away and signed with the pros right after that.

"He was a fine man who will definitely be missed. It's sad that this happened at such a young age."

While Nossek was playing for the Kansas City Athletics, he had the chance, through one of his teammates, to dine with DeBusschere. The two got to know each other, and Nossek kept track of his career from that point forward.

"You don't play two pro sports at the top level without being very talented," Nossek said.

In 1962, DeBusschere signed a $75,000 bonus contract with the White Sox and was a territorial NBA draft pick by the Pistons. DeBusschere retired after the 1973-74 season with a career average of 16.1 points, plus totals of 9,618 rebounds and 2,497 assists.

He then became general manager of the ABA's New York Nets in 1974 and a year later was picked to head the league. He was instrumental in the 1976 merger of the ABA -- famous for its red-white-and-blue basketballs -- with the NBA.

DeBusschere went into private business in 1976, then returned to the NBA in May 1982, when he became general manager of the Knicks, a job he held until '86. It was in that role that he won the draft lottery and picked Georgetown center Ewing as the No. 1 overall choice in June 1985.

DeBusschere was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1996, he was picked as one of the 50 greatest players in the league's first half-century. He is survived by his wife, Geri, two sons and a daughter. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

"It really makes you think, especially when I'm 72," Skowron said of DeBusschere's passing. "I talked to Yogi [Berra] today and wished him a belated birthday. He's 78. Hank Bauer is a good friend and he will be 81. We are getting old.

"Dave could throw hard. He reminded me a lot of Gene Conley with his size. Dave was just a very nice guy."

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.