William Robert "Slick" Leonard (born July 17, 1932, in Terre Haute, Indiana) is a former professional basketball player and coach. 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, and 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.

In 1969, 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. Leonard led the Pacers to three ABA championships before the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976.

Leonard returned to the Pacers in 1985 as a color commentator, first for television (WXIN-59 & WTTV-4), then on radio, where he remains alongside Mark Boyle on WFNI 1070-AM. His trademark phrase (for successful three-point shots) is "Boom, Baby!"

[edit] External links

• Basketball-Reference.com: Slick Leonard (as coach)

• Basketball-Reference.com: Slick Leonard (as player)
• Remember the ABA: Slick Leonard