INDIANAPOLIS–It’s a way to honor “Slick.” The Indiana Pacers announced Monday that the team will wear a black stripe on their jerseys that says “Slick” in honor of the late Pacers coach and radio broadcaster Bobby “Slick” Leonard.
The Pacers’ players will wear them on both their home and away jerseys.
“Slick was one of the most instrumental people in making this franchise what it is today, a legend who made all our lives better through his passion and presence,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard. “We will miss him dearly, and this uniform stripe is just a reminder of what he has represented to the Indiana Pacers organization for more than fifty years.”
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 and Indiana Sports Writers and Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Leonard and his wife, Nancy, helped organized a telethon in 1977 to save the franchise, which was facing financial trouble after being one of the few ABA teams to join the NBA.
His victory total with the Pacers, 529, hangs on a banner in the Bankers Life Fieldhouse rafters.
