Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the guard played collegiately at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

under longtime head coach

Branch McCracken Emmett B. "Branch" McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Ball State University from 1930 to 1938 and at Indiana University Bloomington from 1938 to 1943 a ...

. Selected by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

in the second round of the

1965 NBA draft The 1965 NBA draft was the 19th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 6, 1965, before the 1965–66 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

, Van Arsdale was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

in 1966, together with his identical twin brother Dick. He played in the NBA for twelve seasons; with the Pistons,

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

Kansas City–Omaha Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, Philadelphia 76ers,

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, and Phoenix Suns. A consecutive three-time All-Star starting in 1970, Van Arsdale’s play peaked as the Royals lost star

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson playe ...

to the Bucks. 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. On February 13, 1972, Van Arsdale scored a career-high 44 points in a 112-111 loss to the Houston Rockets. He retired as player in 1977. Despite Robertson’s departure from Cincinnati in 1970 being somewhat countered by the arrival of another All-Star guard in Tiny Archibald, the Royals continued to finish below .500, 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 without a playoff appearance. He played 929 games without making a single playoff appearance.Veteran guard Jamal Crawford still waiting for his shot at a winner
''Seattle Times'' (January 11, 2009) Van Arsdale is also the highest scoring player (14,232 career points) in NBA history without a playoff appearance. Born and raised in Indianapolis, the Van Arsdale twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season, the final for both. The original lockers of both Tom and Dick remain in the display case in the lobby of the Emmerich Manual High School gymnasium.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

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, 79 , , – , , 27.0 , , .391 , , – , , .784 , , 4.3 , , 2.4 , , – , , – , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;",

, 50 , , – , , 16.6 , , .371 , , – , , .743 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , – , , – , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

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, 77 , , – , , 39.7 , , .444 , , – , , .747 , , 4.6 , , 2.7 , , – , , – , , 19.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , – , , 35.8 , , .451 , , – , , .774 , , 6.5 , , 2.2 , , – , , – , , 22.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 38.4 , , .456 , , – , , .721 , , 6.1 , , 2.2 , , – , , – , , 22.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , – , , 35.6 , , .456 , , – , , .755 , , 4.8 , , 2.7 , , – , , – , , 19.2 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City–Omaha , 49 , , – , , 26.2 , , .457 , , – , , .786 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , – , , – , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

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, 78 , , – , , 39.0 , , .428 , , – , , .851 , , 5.0 , , 2.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 19.6 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , – , , 30.3 , , .422 , , – , , .683 , , 3.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.0 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 73 , , – , , 35.2 , , .429 , , – , , .768 , , 3.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , – , , 27.0 , , .441 , , – , , .759 , , 2.5 , , 1.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, 77 , , – , , 18.5 , , .433 , , – , , .703 , , 2.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 5.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 929 , , – , , 30.9 , , .431 , , – , , .762 , , 4.5 , , 2.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 15.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 3 , , 0 , , 7.7 , , .375 , , – , , .333 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , – , , – , , 4.3

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Tom Van Arsdale (as player)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Arsdale, Tom 1943 births Living people American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Indianapolis Cincinnati Royals players Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Identical twins Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Kansas City Kings players National Basketball Association All-Stars Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philadelphia 76ers players Phoenix Suns players Shooting guards Small forwards American twins Twin sportspeople