Bobby "Slick" Leonard

He was known in the business as the “best seventh game coach in the business,” but for a career that included a national championship as a player at Indiana University and three ABA titles in a span of four years as a coach, Bobby “Slick” Leonard might have just been the best big game guy in basketball, period. The Hoosier native led the Indiana Pacers to 529 wins, which included five trips to the ABA Finals and championships in 1970, 1972, and 1973. He was a player’s coach, hard and disciplined when his team needed to refocus, a father figure when the boys needed a lift. And just when an opponent seemed to have him figured out, Leonard reached back into his bag of tricks and found the magic that produced big wins and lifelong friendships. He won 69 playoff games in the ABA, a league record. The ABA’s greatest coach later moved into the broadcast booth, calling Pacers games, thus enjoying one of the longest associations with one team in history.