Knicks Fire DeBusschere

NEW YORK —  The New York Knicks, crippled by injuries and staggering in the standings, today fired former Knicks star Dave DeBusschere, their director of basketball operations, and hired Scotty Stirling as his replacement.

Stirling, the general manager of the Oakland Oaks of the old American Basketball Assn. from 1968-69 and general manager of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors from 1976-82, had been the NBA’s vice president-operations since 1982. He was also a sportswriter with the Oakland Tribune for 13 years and general manager of the Oakland--now Los Angeles--Raiders of the National Football League.