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Bobby Leonard

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"Boom baby" redirects here. Not to be confused with Baby boom.
Bobby Leonard
Leonard, circa 1962
Personal information
Born (1932-07-17) July 17, 1932 (age 92)
Terre Haute, Indiana
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolGerstmeyer (Terre Haute, Indiana)
CollegeIndiana (1951–1954)
NBA draft1954: 2nd round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the Baltimore Bullets
Playing career1956–1963
PositionPoint guard
Number21
Coaching career1962–1964, 1968–1980
Career history
As player:
1956–1961Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers
1961–1963Chicago Packers / Zephyrs
As coach:
1962–1964Chicago Zephyrs / Baltimore Bullets
1968–1980Indiana Pacers
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points4,204 (9.9 ppg)
Rebounds1,217 (2.9 rpg)
Assists1,427 (3.3 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as coach

William Robert "Slick" Leonard (born July 17, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player and coach.

High school and college career

A 6'3" 185 lb (84 kg) guard, Leonard played high school basketball at Terre Haute Gerstmeyer High School, where he excelled as a tennis player, as well. He played collegiate basketball at Indiana University, where he hit the game winning free throw to give Indiana the 1953 NCAA championship. While at Indiana, he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.[1]

Playing career

He was selected with the first pick of the second round 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). In his final season as a player, he also coached the Zephyrs. The next year, the team moved to Baltimore; Leonard coached them for one more year.

Coaching career with the Pacers

Five years after coaching the Bullets, Leonard became the coach of the American Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers, 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 before the ABA–NBA merger 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.

Post ABA/NBA career

Leonard returned to the Pacers in 1985 as a color commentator, first for television with Jerry Baker, then on radio, where he remains alongside Mark Boyle on WFNI 1070 AM. His trademark phrase is "Boom, baby!" for a successful three-point shot by a Pacers player.[2]

On March 13, 2011, Leonard suffered a heart attack shortly after a Pacers road victory over the New York Knicks.[3] 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.[4]

Hall of Fame

On February 14, 2014, Leonard was named as a 2014 inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; he was formally inducted on August 8 of that year.[5]

Head coaching record

ABA and NBA

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Chicago 1962–63 42 13 29 .310 5th in West - - - – Missed Playoffs
Baltimore 1963–64 80 31 49 .388 4th in West - - - – Missed Playoffs
Indiana 1968–69 69 42 27 .609 1st in West 17 9 8 .529 Lost in ABA Finals
Indiana 1969–70 84 59 25 .702 1st in East 15 12 3 .800 Won ABA Champions
Indiana 1970–71 84 58 26 .690 1st in West 11 7 4 .636 Lost in Div. Finals
Indiana 1971–72 84 47 37 .560 2nd in West 20 12 8 .600 Won ABA Champions
Indiana 1972–73 84 51 33 .607 2nd in West 11 12 6 .667 Won ABA Champions
Indiana 1973–74 84 46 38 .548 2nd in West 14 7 7 .500 Lost in Div. Finals
Indiana 1974–75 84 45 39 .536 2nd in West 16 9 9 .500 Lost in ABA Finals
Indiana 1975–76 84 39 45 .464 5th in West 3 1 2 .333 Lost in First Round
Indiana 1976–77 82 36 46 .439 5th in West - - - – Missed Playoffs
Indiana 1977–78 82 31 51 .378 6th in West - - - – Missed Playoffs
Indiana 1978–79 82 38 44 .463 4th in West - - - – Missed Playoffs
Indiana 1979–80 82 37 45 .451 4th in West - - - – Missed Playoffs
NBA Career 450 186 264 .413 - - - –
ABA Career 657 387 270 .682 116 69 47 .595
Career Total 1,107 573 534 .518 116 69 47 .595

References

  1. ^ The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 2, p. 14,
  2. ^ Video on YouTube
  3. ^ http://www.wthr.com/story/14246421/pacers-bob-leonard-has-heart-attack
  4. ^ http://www.indystar.com/proart/20110314/sports04/103140360/pacers-slick-leonard-recovering-from-heart-attack
  5. ^ "Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2014 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. February 14, 2014. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
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