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Dick Van Arsdale

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Dick Van Arsdale
Van Arsdale in 1961
Personal information
Born(1943-02-22)February 22, 1943
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
DiedDecember 16, 2024(2024-12-16) (aged 81)
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolEmmerich Manual
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
CollegeIndiana (1962–1965)
NBA draft1965: 2nd round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1965–1977
PositionShooting guard
Number5
Career history
As player:
1965–1968New York Knicks
1968–1977Phoenix Suns
As coach:
1987Phoenix Suns (interim)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points15,079 (16.4 ppg)
Rebounds3,807 (4.1 rpg)
Assists3,057 (3.3 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Richard Albert Van Arsdale (February 22, 1943 – December 16, 2024) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star selection, his No. 5 was retired by the Phoenix Suns.

Van Arsdale played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, along with his indentical twin brother, Tom. The New York Knicks selected Van Arsdale in the second round of the 1965 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and played three seasons for the Knicks before being selected by the Suns with their first pick of the 1968 NBA expansion draft. An All-Star in each of his first three seasons with Phoenix, he is known as "the Original Sun". He was later an interim coach, executive, and color commentator for the team.

Early life and education

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Van Arsdale was born on February 22, 1943, in Indianapolis, along with his identical twin brother, Tom Van Arsdale. They attended Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis. In 1961, the brothers were jointly awarded the Indiana Mr. Basketball award,[1][2][3] and the Trester Award for Mental Attitude.[4][5]

College career

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Kentucky Wildcats coach Adolph Rupp tried to get the brothers to attend the University of Kentucky, but they chose Indiana University Bloomington, playing for the Hoosiers from 1962 to 1965 under head coach Branch McCracken. At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), Van Arsdale played guard and small forward. He was an All-American in 1965, and also an Academic All-American. In three years, he scored 1,240 points with 719 rebounds (while his brother scored 1,252 points with 723 rebounds).[4] He averaged a double-double for the Hoosiers over his career, with 17.2 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game.[6] In 1963–64, he was named to the All-Big Ten team after averaging 22.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game in his second year with the Hoosiers.[6][7]

Van Arsdale was a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1965 Summer Universiade. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.[4][8] In February 2019, the Van Arsdale brothers were honored by Indiana at halftime of a game between Indiana and Purdue.[9]

Professional career

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Van Arsdale was selected by the New York Knicks in the second round of the 1965 NBA draft with the 10th overall pick,[6] and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1966, together with Tom.[6][10] They were the first pair of identical twins to play in the league.[11]

Van Arsdale played in the NBA for twelve seasons; three with the Knicks and the remainder with the Phoenix Suns (their first selection in the 1968 expansion draft).[6][12][13] Van Arsdale, a three-time All-Star (1969–1971), NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1974),[4] and was consistently one of the best free throw shooters in professional basketball, averaging 79% over his entire career, and near or over 80% from 1969–1977.[13] He retired from the NBA in 1977 and is remembered in Phoenix basketball lore as "the Original Sun".[14] In the NBA, he averaged 16.4 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game, and 3.3 assists per game, and his number 5 jersey was retired by the Suns.[4][15]

Post-playing career

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Van Arsdale later became the Suns' general manager and senior vice president of player personnel.[14][16] Following the firing of John MacLeod in February 1987, he was the interim head coach for that season's final 26 games.[12][16] He also worked as a television and radio color commentator for the Suns, alongside Al McCoy.[8][16]

Personal life and death

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He was the identical twin brother of Tom Van Arsdale.[17] The twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season,[18] the final for both.[19] The original lockers of both Tom and Dick remain in the display case in the lobby of the Emmerich Manual High School gymnasium.[6]

In 2005, he suffered a massive stroke, but made a physical recovery, though with some speech difficulties. He and Tom shared a post-retirement art studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, which they opened in May 2018. Their art focuses on promoting racial tolerance and harmony.[19]

Van Arsdale died of kidney failure in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 16, 2024, at the age of 81.[11][20]

Career playing statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

NBA

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Source[21]

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1965–66 New York 79 69 29.0 .428 .715 4.8 2.3 12.3
1966–67 New York 79 79 36.6 .449 .729 7.0 3.1 15.1
1967–68 New York 78 50 30.1 .436 .670 5.4 2.9 11.0
1968–69 Phoenix 80 42.4 .442 .705 6.9 4.8 21.0
1969–70 Phoenix 77 38.5 .508 .798 3.4 4.4 21.3
1970–71 Phoenix 81 39.0 .452 .811 3.9 4.1 21.9
1971–72 Phoenix 82 37.8 .463 .845 4.1 3.6 19.7
1972–73 Phoenix 81 36.8 .476 .859 4.0 3.3 18.4
1973–74 Phoenix 78 36.3 .500 .853 2.8 4.2 1.2 .2 17.8
1974–75 Phoenix 70 34.6 .470 .832 2.7 2.8 1.2 .2 16.1
1975–76 Phoenix 58 32.2 .484 .830 2.4 2.4 .9 .2 12.9
1976–77 Phoenix 78 19.7 .456 .873 1.5 1.5 .4 .1 7.7
Career 921 198 34.5 .464 .790 4.1 3.3 .9 .2 16.4
All-Star 3 0 12.7 .500 .000 2.7 1.7 5.3

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1967 New York 4 38.3 .319 .727 6.3 3.5 11.5
1968 New York 4 22.0 .227 .750 4.0 3.3 3.3
1970 Phoenix 7 36.4 .430 .879 2.6 4.1 16.4
1976 Phoenix 19* 24.8 .488 .870 1.2 2.0 .7 .1 8.5
Career 34 28.5 .422 .838 2.4 2.8 .7 .1 9.9

College

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Source[22]

Year Team GP FG% FT% RPG PPG
1962–63 Indiana 24 .422 .718 8.9 12.2
1963–64 Indiana 24 .449 .803 12.4 22.3
1964–65 Indiana 24 .446 .852 8.7 17.2
Career 72 .442 .793 10.0 17.2

Head coaching record

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Phoenix 1986–87 26 14 12 .538 5th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs

Source[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Mr. Basketball for 2024 Named". in.nhsbca.org. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "Indiana Mr. Basketball". Ballislife.com. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  3. ^ Ramsey, Brandon (April 7, 2023). "2023 Indiana Mr. Basketball Finalists". Prep Hoops. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Dick Van Arsdale – Indiana University IU Hoosiers Basketball History". IndianaHQ. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  5. ^ Hoose, Phillip (January 17, 2021). "Op-ed: IHSAA's mental attitude award has a troubling name. I know a better one". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Indiana Basketball All-Decade Team: 1960s". 247Sports. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  7. ^ "Dick Van Arsdale College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Dick Van Arsdale – Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame". hoopshall.com. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  9. ^ "Honoring the Van Arsdales". Indiana University Athletics. February 18, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  10. ^ "Year-by-year NBA All-Rookie Teams". NBA.com. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Araton, Harvey (December 16, 2024). "Dick Van Arsdale, One of First Identical Twins in the N.B.A., Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Van Arsdale chosen Phoenix head coach". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). combined reports. February 27, 1987. p. 21 – via Google News.
  13. ^ a b "Dick Van Arsdale Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Dick Van Arsdale". nba.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  15. ^ "Team-by-team look at every retired jersey in NBA history | Sporting News Canada". sportingnews.com. September 7, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Dick Van Arsdale". Arcadia News. June 1, 2024. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  17. ^ Petersen, Matt (May 29, 2014). "Suns Throwback: Dick and Tom Van Arsdale". nba.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  18. ^ "Van Arsdales 'one' again; Both delighted in Phoenix". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 14, 1976. p. 20 – via Google News.
  19. ^ a b Housholder, Terry (April 18, 2021). "Van Arsdale twins share art and basketball memories". KPCNews. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  20. ^ Zimmerman, Kevin (December 16, 2024). "'Original Sun' Dick Van Arsdale dies at 81". Arizona Sports. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  21. ^ "Dick Van Arsdale NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  22. ^ "Dick Van Arsdale College Stats". College Basketball at Sports Reference. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  23. ^ "Dick Van Arsdale Coaching Record". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
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