Last Friday, Frank Vogel etched his name further in Pacers history as he earned win No. 191, the most of any head coach in franchise NBA history. (He then won 192 Sunday evening.)
The winningest coach in Pacers history?
None other than Bobby ‘Slick’ Leonard, the Hall of Famer.
There’s six banners hanging on the west side of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and one of them is for Slick. It had his name and ‘529’ — the number of wins he’s responsible for; 387 in the ABA (over 7-plus seasons), and 142 in the NBA (four seasons).
529 wins AND three ABA Championships (1970, 1972, 1973).
Slick Leonard was a 2014 inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Prior to the Pacers’ victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday night, I spoke with Leonard about coach Vogel and his recent accomplishment.
“Well, I love Frank,” Leonard said, seated on a barstool having just finished his pre-game meal at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“Frank and I have been friends. He’s a positive guy. When it was time to win with the people that he had, he won. Now we’ve had all those injuries and that. He’s stayed positive and he’s winning again. And they may make the playoffs, which would be a real plus. Frank is great. I love his assistant coaches. We’ve got a good situation here.”
Coach Vogel has a number of strengths as a head coach, few more obvious than his passion and optimism for the team.
“Well it rubs off,” Leonard, who’s been part of Pacers broadcasts for the past 30 years and trademarked ‘Boom Baby!’ said. “When you’re positive, it rubs off on the players. I can remember … I took him out on the golf course at Plum Creek. He had a great swing but he had never played much golf. I said, ‘You know, you go get a couple of lessons and you could really be able to play this game.’
“Well this past year, we had the Pacers outing at the Brickyard and I come in there, it had been a few days before that I had a hole-in-one. He was up there on the mic and he said, ‘Hey Slick, how many of those have you had.’ And I said, ‘Two.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re way behind me. I’ve had ten.’ And I knew he was putting me on but, no, we’ve gotten to know Frank’s family and such and I pull for him every game and I think he’s done a great job.”
Related: Slick Leonard Recalls Earl ‘Squirrel’ Lloyd
Vogel, who’s just 41, is less than five years into being the lead guy, and he’s said that he’d love to coach here “forever.” This situation, this organization, and this community suits the Wildwood, New Jersey product well.
Vogel, however, said Sunday night that he cannot envision anyone approaching Slick’s 529 win total.
“It’s unbelievable,” Vogel said. “It really is remakarable what he was able to accomplish. That’s why he’s a legend and that’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame.”
[Frank Vogel named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month]
When I asked Leonard if he thought Vogel, or anyone in this new era, could threaten his number, he laughed it off.
“You got to hang around a long time,” he said with a big smile on his face.
“It’s fun. It’s fun for me to still come down and do ball games, stay involved with basketball. It’s been my whole life outside of a couple years in the military.”