William Robert "Slick" Leonard (July 17, 1932April 13, 2021) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, coach and

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, where he was a two-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and a member of their

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

squad in 1953. After playing professionally in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), Leonard coached the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

to three

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA) championships. He was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

as a coach in 2014.

Early life

Leonard was born in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

, on July 17, 1932. He attended Gerstmeyer High School. He was shaped by the basketball games played in his neighborhood that saw him toughen up. There, he played high school basketball as a , guard, and also excelled as a

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. He went on to play collegiate basketball at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, where he hit the game winning

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

to give the Hoosiers the 1953 NCAA championship. While at Indiana, he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International

Fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. He was named a third-team

in 1953 and selected to the second team the following season.

Professional career

Playing career

Leonard was selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the first pick of the second round (tenth overall) of the

1954 NBA draft The 1954 NBA draft was the eighth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1954, before the 1954–55 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pl ...

. He spent most of his seven-year professional playing career with the Lakers (four years in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and one year following the team's move to Los Angeles), followed by two years with the Chicago Packers/Zephyrs). He led the NBA in games played (72) in 1956–57. His best season came in 1961–62, in which he finished sixth in the NBA in

assists per game In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by field goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due ...

(5.4) and eighth in assists (378). In his final season as a player, he also coached the Zephyrs. The team moved to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

the following year; Leonard coached them for one more year. It was during a game of gin rummy with

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...

where Leonard earned the nickname "Slick", as Mikan described him as such after Leonard beat him at the game.

Coaching career with the Pacers

Leonard quit the Bullets when they refused to give him a multiyear contract. By 1968, he was selling class rings and yearbooks for a living. Five years after coaching the Bullets, Leonard became the coach of the ABA's

, a position he held for nearly 12 years – the last four after the franchise moved to the NBA. Leonard arrived to the team nine games into the 1968-69 season. According to Bob Netolicky, in the first meeting with the team after his hiring, Leonard stated that the team would learn basketball all over again in the way it "should be played" while stating his clear interest in making the team a "family" that would stick together, win or lose, which even extended to wanting the team to get together for a drink after every game. No player was immune to Leonard's demand for "48 minutes of total effort during the game". So committed was Leonard that he told Roger Brown he would leave him home rather than have him on an upcoming road trip if he did not give 100 percent in practice. When Brown thought he was bluffing, Leonard stayed true to his word and left him at home, which motivated Brown to play better. Composed of a fiery temper that led to his team being ready to fight (including the coach himself), the Pacers went 42-27 in his first season as a coach and made it to the ABA playoffs. In their first-round matchup against Kentucky, they lost three of the first four games, but it did not worry Leonard, who gave a mellow speech prior to Game 5 about all he wanted was for them to give 100 percent and play their game without yelling; the Pacers proceeded to win Games 5, 6, and 7 to win the series. They made it all the way to the ABA Finals, losing to the Oakland Oaks. In the book ''Loose Balls'', Leonard adamantly believed the best teams were ones that were physically and mentally tough together full of belief of oneself while stating that his job was "to keep the team together" as opposed to calling the game complicated. This extended to bringing the team to hospitals with sick children to remind the players of "what real life can be about." The 1969-70 team aspired to avenge their loss the previous year. The proceeded to have the best record in the league and had home-field advantage before smashing Carolina and Kentucky with only one total loss before meeting the Los Angeles Stars. The Pacers won the first two games before Los Angeles won Game 3 and Indiana roared to a Game 4 victory by 22 points. They lost Game 5 in overtime before going to Los Angeles and winning it in resounding fashion to deliver the first professional championship for Indiana. In total, the Pacers advanced to the ABA Finals five times and won three ABA championships prior to the

ABA–NBA merger The ABA–NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...

in June 1976; in eight playoff series with a Game 7, Leonard won six of them. From 1976 to 1980, Leonard also served as general manager, where he worked in tandem with his wife Nancy, who handled the administrative duties as assistant general manager. However, the Pacers were nearly gutted in order to meet the financial burdens imposed by the merger, and he was never able to put together a winning team during the Pacers' first four years as an NBA team. By 1977, the team was on the brink of leaving Indianapolis and to sell 8,000 season tickets to raise $2 million. It was Nancy Leonard who came up with the idea for a telethon that she and Bobby would participate in; the "Save the Pacers" telethon, broadcast on live television on July 3, was successful.

Color commentary

Leonard returned to the Pacers in 1985 as a

, first for television with Jerry Baker, then on radio with Mark Boyle on WIBC 1070 AM. His trademark phrase is "Boom, baby!" for a successful

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

by a Pacers player. Leonard first said the phrase in the aftermath of a playoff game where Billy Keller drained a three-point shot to win the game for Indiana.

Later life

Leonard suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on March 13, 2011, shortly after a Pacers' road victory over the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. He was later said to be in good condition, but was given an indefinite time to recover, and was filled in for by Pacers TV analyst and former player Austin Croshere. Leonard was inducted into the

as a coach in 2014. He became the first individual to be inducted into the Indiana University Sports Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and Indiana Sports Writers and Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Leonard sustained three falls in 2018. The first in January shattered his left hip, while the second in June resulted in a broken left wrist. After his third fall in late December, he took a hiatus from calling games, before coming back on February 28, 2019. He died on April 13, 2021, at the age of 88.

Personal life

Leonard met his wife Nancy (a native of South Bend, Indiana) during his time in college. They met when Leonard tripped her when she strolled past him in health class. Four years later, on the day after they graduated from Indiana, the two married each other. They wound up having five children together over a marriage of 60 years.

Career playing statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

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, style="text-align:left;", 1973–74 , 84, , 46, , 38, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Western, , 14, , 7, , 7, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Division finals , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;", 1975–76 , 84, , 39, , 45, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in ABA, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

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, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 37, , 45, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Central, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career ABA , style="background:#E0CEF2;", 657*, , style="background:#E0CEF2;", 387*, , 270, , , , , , style="background:#E0CEF2;", 116*, , style="background:#E0CEF2;", 69*, , 47, , , , , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career NBA , 450, , 186, , 264, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career Total , 1,107, , 573, , 534, , , , , , 116, , 69, , 47, , , , Source:

References

External links

Basketball-Reference.com: Slick Leonard (as coach)

Indiana Pacers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Bobby 1932 births 2021 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) draft picks Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) head coaches Basketball coaches from Indiana Chicago Packers expansion draft picks Chicago Packers players Chicago Zephyrs head coaches Chicago Zephyrs players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Indiana Pacers announcers Indiana Pacers head coaches Los Angeles Lakers players Minneapolis Lakers players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Basketball player-coaches Point guards Basketball players from Terre Haute, Indiana