.jpg) Van Arsdale in 1961 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1943-02-22)February 22, 1943 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 2024(2024-12-16) (aged 81) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Emmerich Manual (Indianapolis, Indiana) |
| College | Indiana (1962–1965) |
| NBA draft | 1965: 2nd round, 10th overall pick |
| Selected by theNew York Knicks | |
| Playing career | 1965–1977 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 5 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1965–1968 | New York Knicks |
| 1968–1977 | Phoenix Suns |
| As coach: | |
| 1987 | Phoenix Suns (interim) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 15,079 (16.4 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,807 (4.1 rpg) |
| Assists | 3,057 (3.3 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Richard Albert Van Arsdale (February 22, 1943 – December 16, 2024) was an American professional basketball player in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). A three-timeNBA All-Star selection, hisNo. 5 wasretired by thePhoenix Suns.
Van Arsdale playedcollege basketball for theIndiana Hoosiers, along with his identical twin brother,Tom. TheNew York Knicks selected Van Arsdale in the second round of the1965 NBA draft. He was named to theNBA All-Rookie First Team and played three seasons for the Knicks before being selected by the Suns with their first pick of the1968 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, andcolor commentator for the team.
Van Arsdale was born on February 22, 1943, inIndianapolis,[1] along with his identical twin brother,Tom. They attendedEmmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis. In 1961, the brothers were jointly awarded theIndiana Mr. Basketball award,[2][3][4] and the Trester Award for Mental Attitude.[1][5]
Kentucky Wildcats coachAdolph Rupp tried to get the brothers to attend theUniversity of Kentucky, but they choseIndiana University Bloomington, playing for theHoosiers from 1962 to 1965 under head coachBranch McCracken. At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), Van Arsdale playedguard andsmall forward. He was anAll-American in 1965, and also anAcademic All-American. In three years, he scored 1,240 points with 719 rebounds (while his brother scored 1,252 points with 723 rebounds).[1] He averaged adouble-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 the1965 Summer Universiade. He was inducted into theIndiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.[1][8] In February 2019, the Van Arsdale brothers were honored by Indiana at halftime of a game between Indiana andPurdue.[9]
Van Arsdale was selected by theNew York Knicks in the second round of the1965 NBA draft with the 10th overall pick,[6] and was named to theNBA All-Rookie Team in1966, 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 thePhoenix Suns, their first selection in the1968 expansion draft.[6][12][13] Van Arsdale was a three-timeAll-Star (1969–1971) and anNBA All-Defensive Second Team selection (1974),[1] and was consistently one of the betterfree throw shooters in the league, 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.[1][15]
Van Arsdale later became the Suns' general manager and senior vice president of player personnel.[14][16] Following the firing ofJohn MacLeod in February1987, he was the interim head coach for that season's final 26 games.[12][16] He also worked as a television and radiocolor commentator for the Suns, alongsideAl McCoy.[8][16]
He was theidentical twin brother ofTom Van Arsdale.[17] The twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the1976–77 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 inScottsdale, Arizona, which they opened in May 2018. Their art focuses on promoting racial tolerance and harmony.[19]
Van Arsdale died of kidney failure inPhoenix, Arizona, on December 16, 2024, at the age of 81.[11][20]
| 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 |
Source[21]
| 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 | |||
| 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 | |
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 | |
| 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]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |