Suns and Brothers

 A 2012 Canadian and Australian study indicated that elite athletes tended not to be firstborn children. The reasons are not clearly understood by researchers, but they theorize that older siblings often introduce younger siblings to a sport and serve as a role model. Meanwhile, younger brothers and sisters must quickly develop motor skills and creativity, and may be willing to take more risks, to compete against older, bigger family members.       

“I always told Tyler and Cody, ‘You better learn from my mistakes and learn quicker than I did,’ ” Luke Zeller said.       

Growing up in basketball-mad Indiana, he said he did not coddle his younger brothers. Once, in elementary school, the three boys and their father were playing a two-on-two game in a bedroom when Luke said he bumped Tyler into a wall to prevent the winning basket. The collision left a dent, which was covered by a poster so their mother would not find out.       

“It was game point,” Luke Zeller said. “You’re not going to give it to him easy, even if it’s a Nerf ball and hoop.”       

During the 2011 N.B.A. draft, Phoenix selected Markieff Morris with the 13th overall pick and tried to make a deal for Marcus, who went one spot later to Houston. The twins had been inseparable while growing up in Philadelphia and attending the University of Kansas. Now they were apart for the first time, which both found discomforting. To make up for the absence, each bought a French bulldog and gave the pet a nickname for their mother.       

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