Bobby "Slick" Leonard Q&A

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Slick series part 4: Bobby Leonard Q&A

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Competitive fire still burns for Hall of Famer

By Pete DiPrimio of The News-Sentinel
Saturday, September 27, 2014 - 12:01 am



Bob Knight has the feisty coaching rep. Whenever you think of college basketball coaches gone wild, at least during games, Knight's name -- as well as photos and videos -- pop up.

Guess what? Knight had nothing on Bobby Leonard, whose sideline antics became the stuff of legend. Competitive fire that seemed burned into his DNA at birth drove this Naismith Hall of Famer. He describes himself as a “wild kid” growing up in Depression-era Terre Haute, and admits to still being “a little bit wild, although at 82, you can't be too wild.”

Or can you?

Hold that thought.

Leonard met his future wife, Nancy, in 1950, and they were married four years later. They have five children and lots of grandchildren. A heart attack suffered a couple of years ago at New York City's Madison Square Garden following an Indiana Pacers game has slowed him down (Leonard basically limits his radio announcing duties to home games), but not stopped him.

“It keeps me in the game,” he said.

Leonard remembers as if it was yesterday of learning to play basketball on a make-shift alley court lit up at night by a light strung up on an oak tree, of a brief flirtation with high school football (in his only game he caught six touchdown passes) that nearly led his Hall of Fame basketball coach, Howard Sharpe (723 career wins), to come to blows with the football coach, of beating a player from Fort Wayne (“I can't remember his name”) to win the high school state tennis championship, of a successful coaching career (he was 387-270 in the ABA with three championships, 186-264 in the NBA), and of a life-long love affair with the fans and people of the state of Indiana

“I wish it could last forever,” he said, “but I know better.”

Eight decades of success and failure have taught Leonard a lot, with the No. 1 lesson being you play to win in anything you do. Everything else is just hot air.

“Everybody talks about good sportsmanship,” he said, “and that is taken for granted. But the only thing that's really in it, is one three letter word -- W-I-N. That's what it's all about.”

What else is it about?

The News-Sentinel recently talked with Leonard about that and more. Here is the last of a four-part series.

Q: How did you get into coaching?
“I started with the Baltimore Bullets (in 1963). I was very young (30 years old). I got an injury to my left shoulder while I was playing. I separated it seven times. On the seventh time, I had to quit playing.

“I had some good kids at Baltimore. I had Terry Dischinger out of Purdue, he was rookie of the year in the NBA. He beat out John Havlicek. I had Walt Bellamy from Indiana who was rookie of the year.
“In my coaching career had I had four Hall of Famers -- two in the NBA with Walt Bellamy and Gus Johnson. I got Gus in the second round, and he was one of the all time great defensive forwards in NBA history. With the Pacers I had two Hall of Famers in Mel Daniels and Roger Brown.”

Q: You twice turned down chances to coach IU. The first was when Branch McCracken left in 1965, and the second when Lou Watson was fired in 1971 and replaced by Bob Knight. Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had coached in college?

“No. I don't wonder. The pro game was for me. I don't think I would have had the patience to see if somebody went to class or deal with some parents who thought their kid should be playing more. Even today you see a lot of kids change schools. The pro game was my cup of tea. I think I could have been (good coach) if I wanted to do the college scene. I could have been successful.”

Q: Back in the day, you were known as a feisty coach, perhaps more so than Knight. There was a famous incident in Utah when you were so upset about the officiating, that you kicked the ball into the stands. What do you remember about that?

“The referees had made a bad call and put somebody on the free throw line. There was a timeout. They just laid the ball on the free throw line. When they did, I got a good run and I kicked that thing 50 to 60 rows into the stands.
“I did all kinds of things like that. One time I threw a ball rack at a referee and all those balls were bouncing all over the place. There was a referee named Wally Rooney. I pulled the whistle from around his neck. I did all kinds of things.
“The referees would come into the arena in Indianapolis, and they knew. They'd say, I wonder what that crazy SOB will pull on us tonight.”

Q: Did you get fined?

“Sure you got fined. In today's game, it would be a fortune. Back then you'd get a $50 fine. Maybe a $100 fine. Now it's like $50,000. The kind of stuff I did was pretty much off the charts.
“I did get called into the (ABA) commissioner's office one time in New York. And I talked him out of fining me. Mike Storen was the ABA commissioner. When the Pacers first started, he was the general manager. He was the guy who hired me. So when he became the commissioner and I got called to his office, I had something going with him. I got out of that OK.”

Q: There was bad blood between you and Hall of Fame Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. What happened?
“We did have a feud. I didn't like him and he didn't like me. He was the first guy to have an enforcer come off the bench. I remember we went into Boston Garden when I was coaching Baltimore and Terry Dischinger was lighting up the Celtics. He had like 15 points midway through the first quarter. Auerbach sent in his enforcer, Jim Loscutoff. I knew what was going to happen.

"Terry was running down the floor. Loscutoff was behind him and took his fist and hit Terry right in the back of the head. When that happened, I went right to the Boston bench and I grabbed Auerbach by the shirt, and I said, 'You get him off of him, or you and I are going to go at it, right now.' I saw the fear in his eyes. He wasn't as tough as he made out to be. He backed down.”

Q: Did you ever patch things up?

“He got out of coaching, and I was broadcasting. I don't know if I'd say we made up. He probably hated me till the day he died, but we did speak to each other.”

Q: Through all the years, through all the ups and downs, what stands out for you?

“I've been blessed. The Good Lord has had his hand on my shoulder. There have been a lot of circumstances … Really, when you look at it, it's not easy to get through this life. Too many things can happen.

“But it's worth it.”




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