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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 (appr ...
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 phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
. He played
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athle ...
for the
Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate At ...
, 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 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...
to three
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...
(ABA) championships. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2014.


Early life

Leonard was born in
Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...
, on July 17, 1932. He attended Gerstmeyer High School. There, he played high school basketball as a , 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. 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 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 p ...
. He spent most of his seven-year professional playing career with the
Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play thei ...
(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 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 ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
the following year; Leonard coached them for one more year.


Coaching career with the Pacers

Five years after coaching the Bullets, Leonard became the coach of the ABA's
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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...
, a position he held for nearly 12 years – the last four after the franchise moved to the NBA. For a time, he also served as general manager. Leonard led the Pacers to three
ABA championships The England Boxing National Amateur Championships previously known as the ABA Championships is the premier boxing tournament hosted annually by England Boxing. The Championships are 'open' class: any boxer who is registered with a club register ...
before 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 m ...
in June 1976. 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.


Color commentary

Leonard returned to the Pacers in 1985 as a
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 phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
, first for television with Jerry Baker, then on radio with Mark Boyle on
WFNI WFNI (1070 AM) is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is owned by locally based Emmis Communications and carries a sports radio format, featuring ESPN Radio programming. The studios and offices are located at 40 Monumen ...
1070 AM. His trademark phrase is "Boom, baby!" for a successful three-point field goal by a Pacers player. According to an interview Leonard gave to Carmel Monthly magazine,“BOOM BABY” was hatched when Leonard was coaching the Pacers in the seventh game of the semi-finals of the 1975 American Basketball Association (ABA) playoffs. Denver held a 2-point lead with seconds left, and the Pacers got the ball to George McGinnis in the low post for a potential tying basket. But McGinnis kicked the ball out to a wide-open Billy Keller in the far corner. Game, set, Boom Baby. “Billy drilled it, and I shouted “BOOM BABY,” Leonard recalled.


Later life

Leonard suffered a heart attack on March 13, 2011, shortly after a Pacers' road victory over the New York Knicks. 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 Austin Nathan Croshere (born May 1, 1975) is a retired American professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs throughout his 12-year career in the N ...
. Leonard was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 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 The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...
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.


Head coaching record

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Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
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Division Finals Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics * Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consisti ...
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Division Finals Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics * Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consisti ...
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Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
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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 Basketball players 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 Player-coaches Point guards Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana