INDIANAPOLIS – Bobby “Slick” Leonard was selected as ABA’s top coach. Hall of Fame player George McGinnis considered him a genius.
On Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers announced that the man who led them to three ABA championships during a Hall of Fame coaching career and was selected All-Star of the 1963 NBA had died. No details were provided about 88-year-old Leonard, but he had no health in recent years.
“It was the biggest,” McGinnis said in March. “He loved all his guys and, yes, he had his days. If you were on the wrong side, it wouldn’t be a good deal for you.”
But, McGinnis added, there was a big difference between Leonard and Indiana Hoosiers coach Bob Knight: after Leonard ripped you off and wore you down, he would take you for a beer and say, I love you, I “I’m doing this for your own good.”
Leonard became one of the heirs to Indiana basketball.
Yes, he went 573-534 in 14 seasons as a coach, winning 529 in 12 seasons with the Pacers.
But the legacy was much deeper.
Terre Haute Gerstmeyer High School star tennis player opted to play basketball at nearby Indiana University. He ended up leading the Hoosiers to two Big Ten titles, was twice American and got the winning free throws to give Indiana the 1953 national championship.
Decades later, he was selected as one of the top 50 players in school history and was part of the Hoosiers team throughout the century.
“It has meant as much as anyone in the state of Indiana when it comes to the game of basketball,” said new Indiana coach Mike Woodson. “He played the game with great pleasure. He trained with undeniable passion.
“His smile made everyone happy. The man was a lifelong champion, whether with the Pacers organization or Indiana University. He was certainly a Hall of Fame human being.” .
After serving in the U.S. Army in the mid-1950s, Leonard played professionally for seven years with the Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers and was named an NBA All-Star in 1963.
But his best moments as a professional came with the fledgling franchise that hired him in 1968-69 and with which he worked for more than half a century.
“Pacers fans will remember Bobby‘ Slick ’Leonard as the spirit of our franchise,” team owner Herb Simon said in a statement. “With a charisma, intensity and wit that matched his nickname, Slick made us champions.
“He was our big fan and our most affectionate critic, and he personified the Pacers basketball for generations of Hoosier families. Most importantly, however, Slick and (his wife) Nancy are our family, and his step leaves an endless void in the hearts of everyone associated with this organization. “
Leonard led the Pacers to the ABA Finals in his first season, and four more times over the next six years, winning titles in 1969-70, 1971-72, and 1972-73.
“He was the best coach I’ve ever played for in the last shot, in pressure situations,” McGinnis said. “In the seventh game, it would change the whole offense. It was great. I think that’s why, if you look at the Pacers, they won all three championships, I think, in the seventh games on the road.”
Leonard also did more than win.
In 1977, the popular Leonard and his wife helped organize a telethon that saved a franchise facing financial ruin after moving from ABA to the NBA.
He was released after the 1979-80 season, failing to win the Pacers’ first four NBA seasons.
But he reappeared as a color commentator on Pacers television broadcasts in 1985. He later moved into the radio booth where the narrative and simple story Leonard coined his commercial phrase “Boom, Baby!” each time the Pacers players made triples.
Leonard was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. He is also a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the Indiana Sports Writers and Broadcasters Hall of Fame and was the first person to be inducted into the Hall of Fame Sports.
His total wins with the Pacers, 529, hangs on a banner on the beams of Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Gov. Eric Holcomb called him “the embodiment of basketball” and “icon of Indiana.”
“His presence in the arena and in our state will be deeply missed,” he said in a statement. “You can’t find anyone who doesn’t love slick.”
Leonard is survived by his wife, five children, twelve grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.