THE 5

The 5: Best sets of twins in sports

Feb 22, 2013, 11:51 PM | Updated: Feb 23, 2013, 12:54 am

So the Phoenix Suns have reunited the Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus, making them only the second set of twins to play on the same team at the same time in NBA history. The other? The Van Arsdales — Dick and Tom — played their final season in the league together in Suns uniforms in 1976-77.

Seriously, between the Van Arsdales, the Morrises, and the other half of twin combos Phoenix has had in the last few seasons (Robin Lopez and Jarron Collins), the Valley of the Sun is more like the Valley of the Twins. Seriously, the folks in Minnesota are getting a tad bit jealous.

I thought it would be a great way to kick off our new blog, The Five, counting down my choices for the best sets of twins in sports history. And if you’re even thinking Kate Upton will be on this list, I’ll be sure to shoot you a stern stare (and likely a secretive high five). Alright, let’s get to it.

5. Randy and Jason Sklar – I know what you’re thinking. “Vince, you moron, these guys aren’t athletes.” No, they’re not. But they are twins and they hosted one of the funniest sports television shows ever — ESPN’s Cheap Seats. That show should have been a much bigger hit than it was. If you don’t believe me, just watch their “commentary” on the 1997 National Spelling Bee. And I really didn’t want to have to put Jose and Ozzie Canseco on this list, so there’s that.

4. Horace and Harvey Grant – Oddly enough, the Grant brothers went to college together at Clemson, but Harvey transferred to Oklahoma to finish his career. Because of this, despite being born only nine minutes apart, they were in different draft classes. In all, they combined to score 20,777 NBA points and four championship rings — even though all the jewelry belongs to Horace. Sorry, Harvey.

3. Phil and Steve Mahre – The twins from Yakima, Washington competed in a combined six Winter Olympic games, with Phil winning the gold medal in the slalom at the 1984 Games in Sarajevo and Steve taking the silver. Two brothers winning medals in the same event in the same Olympics? In the immortal words of the fake Miley Cyrus, “that’s pretty cool!”

2. Daniel and Henrik Sedin – I realize I’m ranking the Sedin twins second at the risk of starting massive riots on the streets of Vancouver. Those crazy British Columbians don’t enjoy second place, as we found out a few summers ago. Anyway, since joining the Canucks in 2000, the brothers have combined for 456 goals, 1,039 assists and 1,495 points and have been key cogs for a franchise that has made the playoffs in nine of their 11 seasons on the roster. And they’ve both won the Art Ross Trophy, which is given to the league’s leading scorer, making them the only brothers to do so.

1. Ronde and Tiki Barber – I know we’re talking about twins here, but it’s kinda creepy just how much these two look like each other, right? Ronde is not only one of the most durable players in league history — he’s started every game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the last 13 seasons — he’s also still really good. He’s intercepted 47 passes in his career and has scored 12 defensive touchdowns on his way to five Pro Bowl appearances. You could say his brother Tiki was, umm…unlikeable for a good portion of his career, but you can’t deny the results he generated for the Giants over his 10-year career. In his last season (2006), Barber ran for 1,662 yards and the year prior, he became the only player in NFL history to run for more than 1,800 yards past the age of 30. And they each played in a Super Bowl…and they starred in this commercial together.

Honorable Mention: Dick and Tom Van Arsdale, Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, Brook and Robin Lopez and Heather and Heidi Burge — even though this awful Disney movie was made about them.

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