Dick Van Arsdale — Mr. Basketball, All-American and All-Star — dies at age 81

Posted by Admin December 16, 2024 Basketball

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INDIANAPOLIS –Former Emmerich Manual High School star, Indiana University All-American and three-time NBA All-Star Dick Van Arsdale has died at the age of 81, the Phoenix Suns announced Monday.

Van Arsdale was called “The Original Sun” because he was Phoenix’s first selection in the 1968 expansion draft after he spent his first three professional seasons with the Knicks. He was named an All-Star in his first three seasons with the Suns and spent his last nine seasons there, averaging 17.6 points per game. He is survived by his twin brother Tom who had most of the same achievements and from whom he was virtually inseparable.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Suns legend Dick Van Arsdale, the ‘Original Sun’ and a member of our Ring of Honor,” the Suns said on their X (formerly Twitter) account. “The first selection in the expansion draft to build the Suns roster and the scorer of the first points in team history, Van Arsdale was a cornerstone of the Suns organization. He earned three All-Star selections, was a member of the team’s first trip to the NBA Finals in 1976 and retired as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer in 1977. Beloved throughout the Suns organization and fanbase, Van Arsdale held several positions with the team, including broadcaster and front office executive, following his 12-year NBA career. Our thoughts are with his friends and family, including his twin brother and Suns teammate, Tom, during this difficult time.”

Tom and Dick were identical twins, born Feb. 22, 1943 in Indianapolis and they were equally dominant basketball players — physical 6-5 wings who could score, pass and rebound. They shared the Indiana Mr. Basketball Award and the Trester Award for Mental Attitude as seniors at Manual in 1961. They reached the all-class state championship game that year but lost to Kokomo in the finals.

“They were Oh-My-God basketball players,” said Dave Schieb, who played and graduated with the Van Arsdales at Manual High School. “My senior year we were playing and Tom Van Arsdale scored 38 points on a Friday night and broke the school record,” said Dave Scheib, who played football and basketball with the Van Arsdales at Manual High School. “When we were warming up the next night, Dick came by me and said, ‘Hey, get me to ball tonight.’ And he scored 40. So one broke the record on Friday night and they other broke it on Saturday.”

The Van Arsdales were also both tight ends on the football team when they played in ninth grade and ran hurdles threw the shot put and high jumped on the track team and they were among the top graduates in their class academically. Their father Raymond taught math and coached cross country and track and field at Manual. Their mother Hilda was a stenographer in the school office, so they both stressed academics. According to a February, 1972 Sports Illustrated story, Dick was the valedictorian at Manual and Tom finished third in the class.

“They were big, they were fast, they were strong,” Scheib said. “I always said they would have been oh-my-God tight ends. Between their grades and their points scored, they were always within two or three points of each other.”

They pushed each other hard. Their squabbles in games on the dirt court in their backyard could get physical — they maintained a rule that if arguments came to fisticuffs there could be no blows to the head or face — but they were the closest of friends and they each raised each other’s level.

“They were pretty much inseparable,” said Leon Carter, a basketball and track teammate of theirs at Manual and one of their closest friends. “Just down to Earth good guys. Over the years I could tell you, from the guys I knew in high school to the guys I know now, they have changed very little. They’re just down-to-Earth good guys.”

The differences between them as young men were slight but noticeable to those who knew them best, though they could pull pranks on teachers, coaches and friends. Carter said Tom’s nose line is a little more like his mothers where Dick looks a little more than his dad. The personality differences were also slight but noticeable.

“Dick was a little more outgoing than Tom,” Carter said. “Tom was reserved when you approached him. Dick could talk to anybody. Tom could but it took a little more effort than it did to get Dick’s attention.”

They decided to go to Indiana University together — eschewing overtures from Adolph Rupp at Kentucky — and had almost identical careers for the Hoosiers. Both averaged double figure scoring all three years they were eligible to play — freshman were not eligible in those days. Both were named All-Americans in 1965. Tom scored 1,252 career points and grabbed 723 rebounds. Dick had 1,240 points and 719 rebounds. On average, Tom scored 17.4 points and grabbed 10.0 rebounds per game and Dick had 17.2 and 10.0. NCAA Tournament berths were much more difficult to come by back then and the Van Arsdales never played in the event, but they led the Hoosiers to a 19-5 record in legendary coach Branch McCracken’s final season.

In the NBA draft that followed they were finally separated because Dick was taken in the second round with the No. 13 pick by the Knicks and Tom was picked No. 14 by the Pistons. According to that Sports Illustrated story, Tom actually considered leaving the NBA to go to law school because he couldn’t bare not to be on Dick’s team, but Dick convinced him to stick with it.

Both were named to the All-Rookie team in 1965-66 and both were named All-Stars three times, but Dick paved his own way by playing a critical role in the birth of the Suns. He scored the first points in the team’s history and averaged 21.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in the Suns’ first season. The next year, he made the All-Star team again and helped the Suns reached the playoffs for the first time. In his eighth season with the team in 1975-76, the Suns reached the NBA Finals for the first time, losing to the Celtics in a thrilling series.

Dick and Tom Van Arsdale reunited with the Suns in 1976-77 to play together for their final NBA season before retiring after Tom had played with five other NBA teams. Dick Van Arsdale later joined the Suns front office, becoming the team’s general manager and vice president of player personnel. He served as interim coach in 1987 for the season’s final 26 games when John MacLeod was fired, winning 14 of those games. Van Arsdale also served as a color commentator on the Suns TV and radio broadcasts alongside Al McCoy.

Van Arsdale suffered a major stroke in 2005 and recovered physically but developed speech problems. He and Tom opened up an art store together to sell their own works — Tom does oil painting, Dick specified in water colors. They both contributed, though Tom worked to minimize the areas where Dick struggled since the stroke.

“Tom pretty much was the voice for both of them,” said Carter who has frequently visited them in Phoenix. “Tom did most of the talking.”