Suns and Brothers

The Van Arsdales did not play together in Phoenix until the 12th and final year of their careers. The Morrises, on the other hand, are young and have a chance to peak together. On March 8, they became the first twins to start a game for the same N.B.A. team.       

“They’re probably the happiest two people in the world right now,” said Thomas Robinson of the Houston Rockets, who played with the Morrises at Kansas.       

Nancy L. Segal, a psychologist and director of the Twin Studies Center at Cal State Fullerton, said that twin athletes grew up with a “24-hour practice partner,” had an uncanny knowledge of the other’s positioning and thinking as teammates and tended to encourage and challenge each other without being resentful of the other’s success.       

Al McCoy, a longtime Suns broadcaster, said he witnessed such support during the 1976 playoffs. Tom Van Arsdale, not yet with the team, sat in a hotel room with Dick, tears streaming down their faces, as they spoke to their mother after Phoenix advanced to the N.B.A. finals, McCoy said.       

“Tom was just as excited as if he was the one playing in the finals,” McCoy said.       

Alvin Gentry, who was fired as the Suns’ coach in January, said that last season, Markieff Morris kept urging Phoenix to trade for his brother. And Gentry said that Bill Self, the Kansas coach, told him: “You need Marcus. If you can get him, he’ll make Markieff work harder.” 

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