It will be eight weeks on Friday, March 2 since Slick Leonard, alone in his church’s parking lot, slipped on ice when unloading boxes to recycle. He forgot to put his car in park, slipped, and shattered the trochanter in one of his hips and says the pain has been “a monster.”
Slick was admitted to a central Indiana hospital and placed in room 529, the same number of wins he has as Pacers head coach.
“I don’t think anybody wants to be locked up [inside] like this. I think in my lifetime, I can’t ever remember being laid up this long.”
The Hall of Famer isn’t exactly sure when he’ll be back but he does feel better each day as the pain decreases. He has been extra cautious, though, since going into cardiac arrest on the Pacers bus at Madison Square Garden back in March, 2011. Since that time, he has not traveled to road games for radio broadcasts.
Leonard, in his 32nd season as the radio analyst on the Pacers Radio Network, looks forward to rejoining Mark Boyle, who he believes is the best play-by-play radio announcer in the league, behind the microphone soon.
“I’ll be back,” Leonard said.
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Topics Discussed:
- On his fall and what went through his mind
- How he’s stayed busy – with friends and watching the NBA
- Not taking any day for granted at 85 years old
- His cardiac arrest episode in New York
- Visits from his work partner, Mark Boyle