Bobby Leonard

{{Short description|American basketball player and coach (1932–2021)}}

{{for multi|the Canadian pro wrestling promoter|Bob Leonard (wrestling)|other people with similar names|Robert Leonard (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Bobby Leonard

| image = Bobby Leonard.jpeg

| width =

| caption = Leonard, circa 1962

| birth_date = {{birth date |1932|07|17}}

| birth_place = Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|4|13|1932|07|17}}

| death_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lb = 185

| high_school = Gerstmeyer (Terre Haute, Indiana)

| college = Indiana (1951–1954)

| draft_year = 1954

| draft_round = 2

| draft_pick = 10

| draft_team = Baltimore Bullets

| career_start = 1956

| career_end = 1963

| career_position = Point guard

| career_number = 21

| coach_start = 1962–1964, 1968

| coach_end = 1980

| years1 = {{nbay|1956|start}}–{{nbay|1960|end}}

| team1 = Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers

| years2 = {{nbay|1961|start}}–{{nbay|1962|end}}

| team2 = Chicago Packers / Zephyrs

| cyears1 = {{nbay|1962|start}}–{{nbay|1963|end}}

| cteam1 = Chicago Zephyrs / Baltimore Bullets

| cyears2 = 1968–{{nbay|1979|end}}

| cteam2 = Indiana Pacers

| highlights =

As player:

NCAA champion (1953)
Consensus second-team All-American (1954)
Third-team All-American – AP (1953)

As coach:

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 4,204 (9.9 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 1,217 (2.9 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 1,427 (3.3 apg)

| cstats_league1 = NBA & ABA

| cwin1 = 573

| closs1 = 534

| HOF_coach = slick-leonard

}}

William Robert "Slick" Leonard (July 17, 1932{{spnd}}April 13, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach and color commentator. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, where he was a two-time All-American and a member of their national championship squad in 1953. After playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Leonard coached the Indiana Pacers to three American Basketball Association (ABA) championships. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2014.

Early life

File:Bob Leonard IU.jpg

Leonard was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on July 17, 1932. He attended Gerstmeyer High School.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leonasl01.html|title=Slick Leonard Stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=November 15, 2023}} He was shaped by the basketball games played in his neighborhood that saw him toughen up. There, he played high school basketball as a {{height|ft=6|in=3}}, {{convert|185|lb|abbr=on}} guard, and also excelled as a tennis player. He went on to play collegiate basketball at Indiana University Bloomington, where he hit the game winning free throw to give the Hoosiers the 1953 NCAA championship. While at Indiana, he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 2, p. 14, He was named a third-team All-American 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. He spent most of his seven-year professional playing career with the Lakers (four years in Minneapolis, 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 (5.4) and eighth in assists (378). In his final season as a player, he also coached the Zephyrs. The team moved to Baltimore the following year; Leonard coached them for one more year.

It was during a game of gin rummy with George Mikan where Leonard earned the nickname "Slick", as Mikan described him as such after Leonard beat him at the game.https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2014/08/06/bobby-slick-leonard-indiana-pacers-nba-aba/13705925/

=Coaching career with the Pacers=

Leonard quit the Bullets when they refused to give him a multiyear contract.https://www.baltimoresun.com/2021/04/13/bob-slick-leonard-hall-of-fame-coach-who-got-his-start-with-the-baltimore-bullets-dies-at-88/ By 1968, he was selling class rings and yearbooks for a living.https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/04/28/solid-hit-in-the-funny-league Five years after coaching the Bullets, Leonard became the coach of the ABA's Indiana Pacers, 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.https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2014/08/06/bobby-slick-leonard-indiana-pacers-nba-aba/13705925/

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.{{cite book |last=Pluto |first=Terry |author-link= |date= 1990|title=Loose Balls |url= |location= |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=145-149, 153|isbn=978-1-4165-4061-8}}

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."{{cite book |last=Pluto |first=Terry |author-link= |date= 1990|title=Loose Balls |url= |location= |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=151, 152|isbn=978-1-4165-4061-8}} 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.https://cbs4indy.com/sports/remembering-the-pacers-first-aba-title-on-the-50th-anniversary/

In total, the Pacers advanced to the ABA Finals five times and won three ABA championships prior to the ABA–NBA merger 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.https://www.espn.com/espnw/voices/story/_/id/14787194/nancy-leonard-breaking-ground-nba-saving-indiana-pacers 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.{{cite book |last=Pluto |first=Terry |author-link= |date= 1990|title=Loose Balls |url= |location= |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=145-149|isbn=978-1-4165-4061-8}} 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.https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31251063/bobby-slick-leonard-88-pacers-hall-fame-coach-dieshttps://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2016/02/17/how-slick-leonard-saved-pacers-1977-telethon/80486326/

=Color commentary=

Leonard returned to the Pacers in 1985 as a color commentator, 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 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.https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2014/08/06/bobby-slick-leonard-indiana-pacers-nba-aba/13705925/

Later life

Leonard suffered a heart attack on March 13, 2011, shortly after a Pacers' road victory over the New York Knicks.[http://www.wthr.com/story/14246421/pacers-bob-leonard-has-heart-attack Bob Leonard has heart attack] wthr.com {{dead link|date=February 2024}} 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.[http://www.indystar.com/proart/20110314/sports04/103140360/pacers-slick-leonard-recovering-from-heart-attack Leonard recovering from heart attack] indystar.com March 14, 2011 {{dead link|date=February 2024}}

Leonard was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2014.{{cite press release |url= https://www.hoophall.com/news/five-direct-elect-members-announced-class-2014-naismith-memorial-basketball-hall-fame/ |title=Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2014 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |publisher=Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |date=February 14, 2014 |access-date=April 13, 2021}} 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.{{cite news|title=Bobby 'Slick' Leonard, Hoosiers and Pacers icon, dies at 88|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2021/04/13/bobby-slick-leonard-hoosiers-and-pacers-icon-dies-88/4624895002/|first1=Zak|last1=Keefer|first2=J.|last2=Michael|date=April 13, 1986|access-date=April 13, 2021|newspaper=The Indianapolis Star}}{{cite news|title=Bobby 'Slick' Leonard, 88, Pacers Hall of Fame coach, dies|url=https://apnews.com/article/bobby-slick-leonard-dead-cddc0dfa1516f0d3b21c4aaea255791c|first=Michael|last=Marot|date=April 13, 2020|access-date=April 13, 2021|work=Associated Press}}

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.https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2517161/2021/04/13/bobby-slick-leonard-the-hoosier-institution-who-saved-the-indiana-pacers-dies-at-88/

Career playing statistics

=NBA=

Source

==Regular season==

Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1956}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| style="background:#CFECEC;"\|72*	27.0	.349	.772	3.1	2.3	11.0
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1957}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| 66	31.4	.335	.765	3.6	3.3	11.2
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1958}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| 58	27.6	.373	.750	3.1	3.2	9.2
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1959}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| 73	28.4	.322	.705	3.4	3.5	8.2
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1960}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| L.A. Lakers \| 55	10.9	.295	.710	1.3	1.5	3.5
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1961}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Chicago \| 70	35.2	.375	.752	2.8	5.4	16.1
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1962}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Chicago \| 32	27.5	.343	.694	2.1	4.5	7.1
class="sortbottom" \|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 426	27.3	.349	.745	2.9	3.3	9.9

==Playoffs==

Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left;"\| 1957 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| 5	40.8	.420	.885	6.0	7.6	21.4
style="text-align:left;"\| 1959 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| style="background:#CFECEC;"\|13*	35.9	.364	.800	3.4	5.4	12.2
style="text-align:left;"\| 1960 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| 9	23.0	.299	.643	1.1	5.0	6.4
style="text-align:left;"\| 1961 \| style="text-align:left;"\| L.A. Lakers \| 7	6.6	.208	.250	.9	1.7	1.6
class="sortbottom" \|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 34	27.2	.357	.755	2.6	4.9	9.8

Head coaching record

| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1962}}

| 42||13||29||{{Winning percentage|13|29}}|| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Western||—||—||—||—

| style="text-align:center;"|Missed playoffs

| style="text-align:left;"|Baltimore

| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1963}}

| 80||31||49||{{Winning percentage|31|49}}|| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Western||—||—||—||—

| style="text-align:center;"|Missed playoffs