Van Exel played college basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats, earning third-team All-American honors as a senior in 1993.

He led the WISAA (private schools) state tournament in scoring as a junior and senior when his team lost in the finals both years.

"[3] In his senior year, Van Exel led Cincinnati with 18.3 points and 4.5 assists per game as the team went 27–5, again won their league tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight before falling in overtime to North Carolina.

Van Exel is the eighth former men's basketball player to graduate with the help of UC's Student-Athlete Support Services department since 2018.

In a 13-year NBA career, Van Exel played for the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Van Exel and Eddie Jones were the centerpiece of the Lakers' rebuilding plan after the end of their successful Showtime Era in the early '90s.

Led by Van Exel's flashy play, the two guards helped the team to the playoffs in 1995 after the Lakers had missed the postseason for the first time in years in 1994.

On February 21, 2002, he was traded by the Nuggets along with Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad to the Dallas Mavericks for Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway, and a 2002 first-round pick.

Van Exel was traded on August 18, 2003, to the Golden State Warriors along with Evan Eschmeyer, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, and Antoine Rigaudeau in exchange for Antawn Jamison, Chris Mills, Danny Fortson, and Jiří Welsch.

Two days later, on May 24, 2006, ESPN's Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon reported on their show Pardon the Interruption that Van Exel would soon announce his retirement.

Texas Southern University hired Van Exel as an assistant coach to the Tigers men's basketball team on October 15, 2009.