He put the Suns' stunning run to the 1976 NBA Finals high up on his career achievements. “That has to be right at the top of the list,” Van Arsdale once said of the 1976 playoffs run.

In Game 5 of the 1976 Finals, Garfield Heard hit a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key as the horn went off to force the first triple-overtime in Finals history.