PROFILBARU.COM

Tom Van Arsdale
	Van Arsdale with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1974
Personal information
Born	February 22, 1943 (age 81); Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	202 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school	Emmerich Manual; (Indianapolis, Indiana)
College	Indiana (1962–1965)
NBA draft	1965: 2nd round, 11th overall pick
	Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career	1965–1977
Position	Shooting guard / small forward
Number	5, 17, 4
Career history
1965–1968	Detroit Pistons
1968–1973	Cincinnati Royals / Kansas City-Omaha Kings
1973–1974	Philadelphia 76ers
1974–1976	Atlanta Hawks
1976–1977	Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
	3× NBA All-Star (1970–1972); NBA All-Rookie First Team (1966); Third-team Parade All-American (1961);
Career NBA statistics
Points	14,232 (15.3 ppg)
Rebounds	3,942 (4.2 rpg)
Assists	2,085 (2.2 apg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference

Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) guard played collegiately at Indiana University under longtime head coach Branch McCracken.

Early life

Van Arsdale was born on February 22, 1943, in Indianapolis, along with his identical twin brother Dick 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]

Van Arsdale idolized future hall of fame player Oscar Robertson when Robertson was an Indianapolis high school player, and later became Robertson's teammate in the NBA.^[6]

Kentucky's College Basketball Hall of Fame and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Adolph Rupp tried to get the brothers to attend Kentucky, but they chose Indiana University, playing on the school's basketball team 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 1,252 points with 723 rebounds (while his brother scored 1,240 points with 719 rebounds).^[4] He averaged a double-double for the Hoosiers over his career, with 17.4 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game.^[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.^[8]^[4] In February 2019, the Van Arsdale brothers were honored by Indiana at halftime of a game between Indiana and Purdue.^[9]

Professional career

Van Arsdale was selected 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1965 NBA draft.^[7]^[10] He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team for the 1965–66 season, together with Dick.^[11] He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 12 seasons; with the Pistons, Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and Phoenix Suns. A consecutive three-time NBA All-Star starting in 1970,^[12] Van Arsdale's play peaked as the Royals lost star Oscar Robertson to the Milwaukee Bucks.^[13] In 1970 and 1971, he averaged scoring totals of 22.8 and 22.9 points per game, the latter of which was a career high.^[14] On February 13, 1972, Van Arsdale scored a career-high 44 points in a 112–111 loss to the Houston Rockets.^[15] He retired as player in 1977.^[16]

Despite Robertson’s departure from Cincinnati in 1970 being somewhat countered by the arrival of another All-Star guard in Tiny Archibald in the 1970 NBA draft,^[17] the Royals continued to finish below .500,^[18] and even after being traded himself Van Arsdale never was on a team that made the postseason. He still holds the NBA record for most career games played (929) and most career points scored (14,232) without a playoff appearance.^[19]^[20]^[7]^[4]

The Van Arsdale twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season,^[21] the final for both.^[6] The original lockers of both Tom and Dick remain in the display case in the lobby of the Emmerich Manual High School gymnasium.^[7]

Van Arsdale served on the NBA Players Association and Retired Players Association.^[6]

Personal life

After retirement, Van Arsdale authored the book, JOURNEY MAN: Celebrating an Unlucky, Unpredictable, and Undeniably Successful NBA Career. He and Dick shared a post-retirement art studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, which they opened in May 2018. Their art focuses on promoting racial tolerance and harmony.^[6]

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1965–66	Detroit	79	–	25.8	.374	–	.721	3.9	2.6	–	–	10.5
1966–67	Detroit	79	–	27.0	.391	–	.784	4.3	2.4	–	–	12.2
1967–68	Detroit	50	–	16.6	.371	–	.743	2.6	1.6	–	–	6.6
1967–68	Cincinnati	27	–	25.3	.408	–	.750	3.4	2.8	–	–	10.4
1968–69	Cincinnati	77	–	39.7	.444	–	.747	4.6	2.7	–	–	19.4
1969–70	Cincinnati	71	–	35.8	.451	–	.774	6.5	2.2	–	–	22.8
1970–71	Cincinnati	82	–	38.4	.456	–	.721	6.1	2.2	–	–	22.9
1971–72	Cincinnati	73	–	35.6	.456	–	.755	4.8	2.7	–	–	19.2
1972–73	Kansas City–Omaha	49	–	26.2	.457	–	.786	3.5	1.8	–	–	12.4
1972–73	Philadelphia	30	–	34.3	.393	–	.833	6.2	2.1	–	–	17.7
1973–74	Philadelphia	78	–	39.0	.428	–	.851	5.0	2.6	0.8	0.0	19.6
1974–75	Philadelphia	9	–	30.3	.422	–	.683	3.2	1.8	1.4	0.0	14.0
1974–75	Atlanta	73	–	35.2	.429	–	.768	3.4	2.8	1.1	0.0	18.9
1975–76	Atlanta	75	–	27.0	.441	–	.759	2.5	1.9	0.8	0.1	10.9
1976–77	Phoenix	77	–	18.5	.433	–	.703	2.4	0.9	0.3	0.0	5.8
Career		929	–	30.9	.431	–	.762	4.5	2.2	0.7	0.1	15.3
All-Star		3	0	7.7	.375	–	.333	1.0	0.7	–	–	4.3