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Speaker 1: One of those who knew Nancy and was able to

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Speaker 1: see the crossbreed not only from a sports standpoint, but

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Speaker 1: from the business standpoint as well. He is in the

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Speaker 1: Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame. He went on to become,

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Speaker 1: of course, a vice president for the Indiana Pacers. Bill Binner,

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Speaker 1: who also worked for the Indiana Sports Corps a number

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Speaker 1: of different capacities, saw the impact of Nancy Leonard joining

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Speaker 1: me on the show today, Bill, let me begin by

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Speaker 1: saying my condolences to you, as I know that Nancy

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Speaker 1: Leonard was somebody that you were close to, but I

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Speaker 1: don't think that it is possible for us even in

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Speaker 1: the next three hours, next three weeks, to talk about

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Speaker 1: the incredible impact she had on this city.

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Speaker 2: Well, Jake, first of all, I'm honored that you would

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Speaker 2: have me on to talk about Nancy the Leondard legacy.

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Speaker 2: I always called her as our friendship grew over the years,

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Speaker 2: always research to as the first Lady, and that was

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Speaker 2: our little thing that we had going between us because

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Speaker 2: she was and I put on a Facebook post, she was,

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Speaker 2: She's She's royalty, She's Indiana Royalty.

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Speaker 3: Uh.

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Speaker 2: And everything you've just gone through in this history lesson

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Speaker 2: is so accurate and so profound because without without that

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Speaker 2: Nancy's business acumen, without her being Slick's lifelong partner and

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Speaker 2: managing Slick, which took some took some doing from time

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Speaker 2: to time, without her influence on the Pacers and their

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Speaker 2: survival through the telephone, to the to the telethon, I

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Speaker 2: don't think it's too strong to say that Indianapolis might

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Speaker 2: not have evolved into the sports city that it is today.

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Speaker 2: And for all the things he just mentioned, the fever,

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Speaker 2: the Colts, the Pacers eventual success beginning with the Bunty

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Speaker 2: Walls Shars, but just our mere survival back in nineteen

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Speaker 2: seventy seven, I was the beat writer back for the

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Speaker 2: Facers during the telethon days during their transition to the NBA,

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Speaker 2: and certainly I was aware of the incredible financial difficulties

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Speaker 2: that the franchise faced as it transitioned into the NBA,

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Speaker 2: and the impact of that telethon. Had that night gone through,

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Speaker 2: you could make the case, Jake, as you just have

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Speaker 2: so convincingly that our amateur sports movement, our attraction of

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Speaker 2: the Colts, our building of the Hoosier Dome, or an

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Speaker 2: eventual attraction of the NCAA and certainly the future of

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Speaker 2: the pacers. All of that might not have taken place,

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Speaker 2: or had it taken place, it would have come in

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Speaker 2: a much more much slower pace and perhaps scale. So

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Speaker 2: you can trace it all back to that, Yeah, that

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Speaker 2: that business clash back back in Indiana University in nineteen

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Speaker 2: fifty two. It was just just a phenomenal couple, uh,

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Speaker 2: and she was a phenomenal person. I got to say

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Speaker 2: one more thing, Uh. One of my best memories of Nancy,

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Speaker 2: she was part of they called it Murderer's Row and

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Speaker 2: was her and uh Paul Frinskin's life and Jane Hammilgard's wife,

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Speaker 2: Gena and Gina and food they were on. Their food

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Speaker 2: was the timer and Gene was on the scores table,

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Speaker 2: and their whine lives Fernski and nev One Himergarden Nancy

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Speaker 2: for murderers Row, and they would they would hold nothing

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Speaker 2: back uh during the UH to call out the officiating

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Speaker 2: during the formative ABA days. And so I remember them

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Speaker 2: so fondly. And again Nancy Slick and became fast friends

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Speaker 2: of ours. The part of the again just foundational aspects

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Speaker 2: of the pieces franchise and everything that we are Indianapolis,

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Speaker 2: Indianapolis today, and so, Jake, I so appreciate what you

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Speaker 2: just did recalling the history of Nancy's profound impact on

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Speaker 2: on one is evolved.

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Speaker 1: Bill. I think one of the things, Bill Benner is

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Speaker 1: my guest here as we remember Nancy Leonard today, one

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Speaker 1: of the things I think, and I wanted to have

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Speaker 1: you on because you know, admittedly, Bill, a lot of

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Speaker 1: what I can opine share recall is going to be secondhand,

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Speaker 1: you know some of it. I mean, sure I met

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Speaker 1: Nancy Leonard, Sure I knew her, but it would be

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Speaker 1: disingenuous to say that I had the relationship of say

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Speaker 1: yourself or Mark Boyle, who will be on later, or

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Speaker 1: Mark Monteith, or you know, Darnelle Hillman, for example, who

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Speaker 1: we may talk to later in the week. And I

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Speaker 1: certainly understand that a lot of people are grieving today

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Speaker 1: as well. But one of the aspects of it that

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Speaker 1: I wanted to to ask you about, or ask you

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Speaker 1: to expand upon, perhaps, and I mean this in the

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Speaker 1: most positive of ways, there was a level of endearment.

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Speaker 1: And you tell me if this is accurate. There was

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Speaker 1: a level of endearment about this fact, and that is

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Speaker 1: that you know, Slick Leonard grew into and became, of course,

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Speaker 1: this this gruff but loving character that was, you know,

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Speaker 1: just a huge figure within the game of basketball and

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Speaker 1: a larger than life personality in many many ways. But

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Speaker 1: to accomplish a lot of what he did was to

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Speaker 1: be kept in check. And there was one person that

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Speaker 1: he virtually and I'm gonna say feared, for lack of

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Speaker 1: a better phrase, but that he made sure that he

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Speaker 1: always stayed in line with, and that he when there

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Speaker 1: were decisions to be made or things to be done,

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Speaker 1: that he always ran it past or basically checked off with.

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Speaker 1: And that was Nancy Leonard. She was the one person

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Speaker 1: that could not only usurp him but also keep him

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Speaker 1: in line with things, and that combination became as powerful

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Speaker 1: a force as anything that we've seen from a business

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Speaker 1: standpoint in this town. Now, I want you to tell

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Speaker 1: me if that's inaccurate.

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Speaker 2: That is absolutely one hundred percent correct. He both loved

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Speaker 2: Nancy to the absolute in degree. There isn't all but

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Speaker 2: the fear there for Slick. You know, he would often

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Speaker 2: have a few beers postgame and then Nancy would drive

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Speaker 2: him home and Slick would rant, especially if they've lost

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Speaker 2: he would he would rant all the way home and

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Speaker 2: uh and Nancy would absorb that and she would direct him,

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Speaker 2: uh and she would calm him when chikun. But that

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Speaker 2: that pairing, the Leonard pairing, Uh, they both made each

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Speaker 2: other so much better in so many many ways. And

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Speaker 2: that effect went beyond their own relationship, to the relationship

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Speaker 2: of the paces, to the relationship of the paces to

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Speaker 2: the city, to the relationship of basketball in the state

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Speaker 2: of Indiana. I mean, it had so many levels. And

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Speaker 2: absolutely Jake Nancy was core to keeping Slick being Slick,

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Speaker 2: the slick that he had to be, the slick that

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Speaker 2: he was, but also also standing off those those rough

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Speaker 2: edges learned they needed to be standing off and sometimes

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Speaker 2: they needed to be grated off because that was that

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Speaker 2: was Slick's uh sweet personality. Yeah, he slicked fair Nola.

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Speaker 4: That he he did.

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Speaker 2: He did fair Nancy, and it was it was a

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Speaker 2: good thing that he did, because she she she would

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Speaker 2: keep him in his place. And all the time she

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Speaker 2: was doing that, she was raising the family. She was

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Speaker 2: raising a wonderful, great, great family. Uh. And she was

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Speaker 2: becoming friends to so many and she was championing others.

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Speaker 2: I'll give you Another female uh uh, great female later

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Speaker 2: leader that Nancy Letter helped create and create the platform

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Speaker 2: was Sandy Knapp, the first president of the Indiana Sports Corporation.

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Speaker 2: Sandy was working for the Pacers and working alongside Nancy,

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Speaker 2: and Nancy created the avenue for Sandy Nap to become

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Speaker 2: one of the great leaders not only in Innapolis English sports,

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Speaker 2: but in American amateur sports. And a female for runner,

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Speaker 2: and that's again let's go back to Nancy was a

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Speaker 2: female for runner. She was assistant general manager running the

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Speaker 2: entire business operation of an NBA franchise when that simply

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Speaker 2: didn't happen, That simply didn't happen back in nineteen seventy six.

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Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy seven, she was the one, and purposely

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Speaker 2: she kept herself in the background because it was never

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Speaker 2: about Nancy. It was always about the Pacers, the franchise

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Speaker 2: and doing whatever she could to help make that a

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Speaker 2: better franchise. And then in selects later years, you know,

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Speaker 2: when he became a Boil sidekick and did the radio

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Speaker 2: on television work, and Nancy was steadfast, steadfast as his

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Speaker 2: number one supporter, his number one fan, and just a

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Speaker 2: face of the franchise.

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Speaker 4: Again.

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Speaker 2: I always every time my last step with Facers the

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Speaker 2: last seven seasons, I was always so honored to Great

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Speaker 2: Slick and Nancy when they came down the tunnel and

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Speaker 2: parked the car and got out, and I would always

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Speaker 2: give her a hug and greet her as the first lady.

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Speaker 2: And she would always smile and only the way she could,

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Speaker 2: and give me a hug back and say, old Bill,

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Speaker 2: you're You're just so nice to call me that. And

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Speaker 2: I said, Nancy, I call you that because it's true,

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Speaker 2: you're the first lady.

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Speaker 1: Bill. Let me ask you. Bill Benner is my guest

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Speaker 1: as we reflect on Nancy Leonard, who the announcement this

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Speaker 1: morning that she passed away at the age of ninety three. Bill,

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Speaker 1: in this town, you know, you are, like myself, native

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Speaker 1: to Indianapolis. You from the far south side at Center

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Speaker 1: Grove area, and you know your brother David obviously worked

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Speaker 1: at the newspaper, worked for the Pacers. You are rooted

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Speaker 1: in this town. And if anybody has you know the

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Speaker 1: the validity of your Hoosier root goes to the fact

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Speaker 1: that you've sat through twenty four and sixty five dreadful

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Speaker 1: Indiana football games to which you're finally being rewarded. But

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Speaker 1: but when you think about the evolution of this city,

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Speaker 1: one of the things to me that is special, and

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Speaker 1: it truly is special. All of the sports properties here,

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Speaker 1: you know, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pays tribute to its legends.

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Speaker 1: The Indianapolis Colts has the Ring of Honor in which

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Speaker 1: you know, Jim Mersey has gone in, but so too

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Speaker 1: the players and the executives before that, you know, that

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Speaker 1: have helped shape the last forty years of football here.

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Speaker 1: And the Pacers having Nancy Leonard sitting behind the bench

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Speaker 1: at every game, continuing to give her tickets, doing the

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Speaker 1: same for you know, Donnie Walsh. The all of the

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Speaker 1: different organizations in town have great respect and pay great

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Speaker 1: respect to their pillars. And so I'm curious, in your opinion,

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Speaker 1: as somebody who grew up here, that generosity, that appreciation,

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Speaker 1: that respect, is that because it's who we are as

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Speaker 1: a people, or is it because it's the people that

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Speaker 1: deem that respect from us.

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Speaker 2: Boy, that's a that's a that's a great you know,

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Speaker 2: that's a great question, Jake, And I think I think

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Speaker 2: it it comes from our We have a certain humility

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Speaker 2: here and we've always had a Yeah, I don't want

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Speaker 2: to call it, I don't want to use naptown. But

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Speaker 2: we've always had a certain self awareness of who we are,

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Speaker 2: how we got there, and what we've become. And I

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Speaker 2: hope again, as an old guy, I hope we never

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Speaker 2: lose sight of the fact of the people who had

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Speaker 2: the vision to buy into an ABA, create create an

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Speaker 2: American Basketball Association, and then create the flagship franchise of

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Speaker 2: the American Basketball Association, and then had the dumption to

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Speaker 2: make the financial considerations to advance that franchise into the

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Speaker 2: National Basketball Association. Are true, not discarding the Indianapolis Olympians, but

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Speaker 2: our truly first step into the realm of major professional sports.

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Speaker 2: And so we can't ever forget those pillars, as you

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Speaker 2: say in Nancy Leonard and Slick Leonard, certainly among those pillars,

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Speaker 2: Dick Tinkham, Mike Storn, you can go back to those

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Speaker 2: who had the vision of the of the Indian Pacers,

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Speaker 2: certainly bomb Usay and Jim Irsay, Jim Morris and Ted

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Speaker 2: Bohm and that group.

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Speaker 1: Who we'd be remiss if we didn't mention as well

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Speaker 1: the Schumacher family and what they've done from downtown Indianapolis

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Speaker 1: and Victory Field and the Indianapolis Indians, which are a

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Speaker 1: staple of who we are. There are just so many right.

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Speaker 4: And the Homely family.

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Speaker 2: I mean again, it's all part of who we were,

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Speaker 2: who we are and what we've become.

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Speaker 4: You know it.

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Speaker 2: I've said this so many times to so many groups.

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Speaker 2: We're one, We're one of the great Americans success success stories, Indianapolis,

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Speaker 2: the Indianapolis and I grew up indian No place remember

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Speaker 2: that down oh yeah?

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 2: And to see what we've evolved into and reflected as

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Speaker 2: the things you just mentioned, the Indiana fever uh, the

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Speaker 2: Indianapolis cults uh, the Indiana Pacers making that magic run

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Speaker 2: to the seventh game of the NBA Finals, the Indianapolis

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Speaker 2: Motter Speedway, and the Indians being one of the top

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Speaker 2: deep not the top triple life franchises in all in baseball.

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Speaker 2: I mean, all of these things that we've seen are

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Speaker 2: the results of those people such as the Letards, such

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Speaker 2: as the people we've mentioned, who had the vision, the

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Speaker 2: gumption to say, this is not who we are, this

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Speaker 2: is who we're going to be, and we're going to

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Speaker 2: get there. And I'm blessed to have I'm so blessed

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Speaker 2: to have lived through it, to have written about it

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Speaker 2: during my time at the Star, and then to have

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Speaker 2: participated in it during my time with in the second

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Speaker 2: half of my career with the Sports corporate with Visit

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Speaker 2: India and Horizon League, and then pat some sports entertainment.

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Speaker 2: I am so us two have had my lifespan encompassed

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Speaker 2: the city's lifespan as it evolved.

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Speaker 1: And Nancy Leonard a huge part of that. The Simon

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Speaker 1: family and Pacer Sports and Entertainment have issued statement as well.

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Speaker 1: We will get to that just a couple of minutes

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Speaker 1: from now, But Bill, I certainly sincerely want to thank

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Speaker 1: you today for being able to come on on what

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Speaker 1: is again, I know, a difficult day, but at the

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Speaker 1: same time and I see it as a day of celebration.

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Speaker 1: It's a day to celebrate who we are and what

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Speaker 1: we are. And Nancy Leonard was the best of all

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Speaker 1: of us, certainly from a vision standpoint of this town,

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Speaker 1: and I appreciate you being able to expand on that today.

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Speaker 2: Well, thanks again, Jake, I'm honored that you would you

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Speaker 2: would have me on and again, Nancy was such a

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Speaker 2: beloved Nancy an Slick. We're such beloved friends of sharing

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Speaker 2: and I and you know, I'm heartbroken, but I'm happy

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Speaker 2: that she's she's there with Slick and my brother and

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Speaker 2: Jim Morris and her and Melson and all those who

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Speaker 2: have played a role in the.

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Speaker 4: Pace of franchise.

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Speaker 2: And again, it's a tough day, but I'm happy for

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Speaker 2: her in that respect.

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Speaker 1: Bill, I appreciate it. Be well, all right, we'll talk

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Speaker 1: to you soon. Thanks, Jake, Bill Betner joining me on

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Speaker 1: the program. Of course, Slick Leonard went beyond being a coach.

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Speaker 1: He went into broadcasting. He was the broadcast partner of

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Speaker 1: our next guest, who is the radio voice of the

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Speaker 1: Indiana Pacers, Mark Boyle, joining me on the program. And Mark,

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Speaker 1: I will bring you on with the same thing that

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Speaker 1: I had said to Bill Benner, and that is that

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Speaker 1: I do offer condolences because it would be my assumption

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Speaker 1: that Nancy Leonard was someone who was very on a

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Speaker 1: personal level, special and close to you. But I also

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time today in being able to reflect upon

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Speaker 1: and champion her.

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Speaker 3: I appreciate that, And having heard your comments before I

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Speaker 3: came on, I will say this, you don't need me

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Speaker 3: to be your guest. You've already said it perfectly. Downtown

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Speaker 3: would not be again, in my opinion, would not be

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Speaker 3: what it is. Would the Colts be here? Maybe yes,

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Speaker 3: maybe know when I'm here for the eighty eight eighty

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Speaker 3: nine season, there was a big giant hole in the

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Speaker 3: ground where them ma all is now. Downtown was dead.

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Speaker 3: One of the differences. And this is just a microcosm

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Speaker 3: back in the day when I came into the NBA.

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Speaker 3: The guys that came in from the other teams Indianapolis

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Speaker 3: really now they look forward to coming. There's stuff to do,

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Speaker 3: there's interesting venues, be at restaurants, be at bars, be

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Speaker 3: it whatever you like. And it's one of the more

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Speaker 3: particularly for a town this size, it's one of the

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Speaker 3: more vibrant towns in the entire league. Guys like coming

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Speaker 3: here now. And I would never be even with my

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Speaker 3: own bias, I would never be so bold as to

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Speaker 3: say that's because of Slick and Nancy. But there's certainly

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Speaker 3: key figures in that whole transition.

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Speaker 1: Well, and I want to go back to in Bill

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Speaker 1: and I talked about this mark, but I think you

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Speaker 1: would be you could offer a very unique perspective. You're

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Speaker 1: almost perhaps one that is isolated to just you, and

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Speaker 1: that is in terms of from the business aspect of it,

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Speaker 1: in seeing you Slick as the broadcaster and as your

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Speaker 1: partner for so many years on the radio, the significance

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Speaker 1: of Nancy Leonard being behind him as a stabilizing but

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Speaker 1: also driving force into each area and aspect with which

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Speaker 1: he ventured in his professional career. I would hope that

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Speaker 1: people are aware of that, but I don't think that

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Speaker 1: we can overstate her impact on Slick and the way

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Speaker 1: that he admired, looked up to, and loved her. And

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Speaker 1: I was hoping that you could expand upon that.

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Speaker 3: Well, it is technically accurate to say that Nancy was

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Speaker 3: Slick's wife and then Slick was Antsy's husband, both true statements,

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Speaker 3: but only to scratch the service of the entire equation.

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Speaker 3: They were partners, and where Slick was not necessarily strong,

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Speaker 3: Nancy was to say that she was the driving force

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Speaker 3: behind Slick, I think would be a little bit not insulting,

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Speaker 3: it would be a little bit too dismissive of Slick.

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Speaker 3: He was a strong person on his own and a

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Speaker 3: vibrant personality and a big factor in what he did

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Speaker 3: and the people he influenced. But there's no question Nancy

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Speaker 3: was his part, his equal, and they were a great team.

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Speaker 3: They were together for over sixty years, and they were

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Speaker 3: such a perfect fit. Two great people who welcomed everybody

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Speaker 3: into their orbit, and they didn't have to, but they did.

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Speaker 3: They cared not just about each other and their family,

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Speaker 3: and not just about the Pacers either. They cared about

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Speaker 3: the city, they cared about the state, and they were

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Speaker 3: influent in so many ways. I don't know that you

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Speaker 3: could actually quantify the difference they made or even make

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Speaker 3: an all encompassing statement, but I think on a general level,

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Speaker 3: it's safe to say that they were a great partnership

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Speaker 3: and two really wonderful people whose impact will never ever

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Speaker 3: be forgotten.

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Speaker 1: Of course, that partnership began, as I mentioned earlier in

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty, in the fall of nineteen fifty at Indiana University,

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Speaker 1: when Bob Leonard as he was known then obviously the

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Speaker 1: promising basketball star from Terre Haute, and then Nancy being

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Speaker 1: from South Bend, and they met in I believe it

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Speaker 1: was a health class when they began dating, and then

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Speaker 1: the relationship, as Marca just mentioned, went on for you know,

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Speaker 1: sixty years. Beyond that, the aspect, Mark, and I guess

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Speaker 1: the unique factor of Nancy. And I know that this

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Speaker 1: was before your time here, but Nancy Leonard being a

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Speaker 1: basketball executive in the early NBA years, in particular for

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Speaker 1: the Pacers from nineteen seventy six to nineteen eighty by

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Speaker 1: definition the assistant general manager. But you know, being there

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Speaker 1: and involved in it, there had to be a strength there,

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Speaker 1: did there not, just based on the fact that it

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Speaker 1: was not necessarily at that time common to see a

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Speaker 1: woman in an executive role. But yet, while I was

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Speaker 1: not around, it is my understanding that she had instant

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Speaker 1: respect from those that worked around her. Is that also

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Speaker 1: your understanding?

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Speaker 3: It's my understanding, But like you, I wasn't here then,

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Speaker 3: but I ansay this. She was in the front office

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Speaker 3: of a professional basketball team at a time when the

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Speaker 3: only women around professionals were in the stands. Right now,

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Speaker 3: we have women in the front office, we have women coaching,

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Speaker 3: as it should have been forever. But progress is slow.

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Speaker 3: She was a pioneer, and I can't even begin to

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Speaker 3: imagine how difficult it must have been to be the

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Speaker 3: only woman. First of all, men I think probably looked

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Speaker 3: down on her, which made her job more difficult, and

359
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Speaker 3: that was in the days of sports. NBA included their corporations.

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Speaker 3: Now we have several hundred people, for example, looking for

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Speaker 3: the Pacers, But back in those days, the front office

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Speaker 3: was three or four people and they had to do everything. Now,

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Speaker 3: there wasn't some of the influence that we have now.

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Speaker 3: There was no digital marketing was essentially non existent. It

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Speaker 3: was just trying to get sponsors and ticket holders. That

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Speaker 3: doesn't diminish what she did, especially as the first female

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Speaker 3: she assumed such a position. But there's one example of

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Speaker 3: the influence that she had and that Slick had, because

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Speaker 3: Slick was the one that put her into the front office.

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Speaker 3: It's I guess it's stuck there from the public perception,

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Speaker 3: but it's so much more significant and so deeper than

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Speaker 3: that that it's you know, we could talk about it

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Speaker 3: for hours and still only scratch the surface mark.

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Speaker 1: In terms of Nancy Leonard, Mark Boyles, my guest, the

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Speaker 1: radio play by play voice, of course, said the Indiana

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Speaker 1: Pacers Nancy Leonard. The news coming this morning from the

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Speaker 1: Leonard family that she passed away at the age of

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Speaker 1: ninety three. In terms of this, you know, this past

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Speaker 1: spring and summer and the run that the Pacers had,

380
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Speaker 1: and you know it was special to see Miles Turner

381
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Speaker 1: go down and immediately hug Nancy Leonard when they won

382
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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference and Tyre's Haliburton today paying tribute on

383
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Speaker 1: social media and posting a video of him embracing her

384
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Speaker 1: as well. What was the actual, I guess, timeline of

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Speaker 1: how when a player would come to Indiana, how it

386
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Speaker 1: would come to be that they would become aware of

387
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Speaker 1: Nancy Leonard? It was it just the fact that she

388
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Speaker 1: was at every game, and it's kind of inevitable that

389
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Speaker 1: you understand who that is or was she introduced to

390
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Speaker 1: different players as they came along. Are you aware of

391
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Speaker 1: perhaps just how those relationships formed.

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Speaker 3: Well, they were formed differently over the court time. Now,

393
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Speaker 3: when I came, Slick was doing television and then he

394
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Speaker 3: started doing radio with me. The point is though, that

395
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Speaker 3: he was around all time, he traveled with us. He

396
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 3: got to know the players who considered him as a

397
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,720
Speaker 3: father or a grandfather at various advents they meet Nancy.

398
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Speaker 3: It's different now Slick has passed. We have players on

399
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Speaker 3: this team whenever met Slick, and I wouldn't be surprised

400
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Speaker 3: if we have players on the team who don't know

401
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,639
Speaker 3: who Nancy is. That's just generational. But the way it

402
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,240
Speaker 3: started was Slick was far more intimately involved as a broadcaster,

403
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 3: and he knew everybody, all the players, all the coaches.

404
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,879
Speaker 3: I still smile when I think about some of the

405
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,160
Speaker 3: cards on the plane where he'd be the oldest guy

406
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Speaker 3: there and he was taking their money like they were

407
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:32,879
Speaker 3: ATMs and Chuck Paul Socket, and he took their money,

408
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,440
Speaker 3: but they still loved him. He was just that kind

409
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Speaker 3: of guy. He warm and welcome to everyone, and Nancy

410
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,719
Speaker 3: the same, although on a lower profile level as far

411
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Speaker 3: as the players are concerned. But you saw it with

412
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Speaker 3: Tyrese and Miles if you use an example in the playoffs,

413
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 3: the current roster of guys that did know her obviously

414
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Speaker 3: accepted her as part of a family. And that's something

415
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Speaker 3: when she's in their nineties and they're in their twenties.

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Speaker 1: By the way, it was card games on an airplane.

417
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Speaker 1: How Slick got his name right.

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Speaker 3: Yes, And there's a bit of a misnomer about that.

419
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Speaker 3: My impression is the common wisdom is that the nickname

420
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 3: Slick was given to him by hot Rod Huntley, who

421
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,159
Speaker 3: was his roommate with the Lakers and then went on

422
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Speaker 3: to be a broadcaster for the Lakers and the Jazz.

423
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Speaker 3: But Slick told me that that name was given to

424
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Speaker 3: him by George Micah. I think he was the coach

425
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 3: of the Lakers at the time when Slick was playing,

426
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Speaker 3: and they weren't a card game, and according to Slick,

427
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Speaker 3: George said, man, you're just too slick for me, and

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Speaker 3: it stuck. So I'll bet you there's a whole bunch

429
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Speaker 3: of people that when we say Bobby Leonard, they don't

430
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Speaker 3: even know who that is.

431
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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah, correct, And you know you are correct

432
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Speaker 1: Mark in the fact that the variation or the alternate

433
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Speaker 1: version of that story is that he was playing a

434
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 1: card game and that hot Rod Huntley was the one

435
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: that warned somebody like, hey, don't don't don't get too

436
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: playing too far with that guy because he's too slick,

437
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,439
Speaker 1: you know. So I listen, you'd have to go with

438
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,680
Speaker 1: if Slick says it's Mike and then it's Mike, and right,

439
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,199
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the version you got to go with.

440
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 1: If that's Slick's variation of it.

441
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 3: Right, If Slick said God gave him the nickname, I'm

442
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:12,960
Speaker 3: buying that tells me something.

443
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: Fair enough, right. So Mark Boyle is our guest. We're

444
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,560
Speaker 1: talking about Nancy Leonard and her impact on not you know,

445
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 1: the Pacers obviously, And and Mark, you began doing radio

446
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:30,360
Speaker 1: with Slick in what year?

447
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,639
Speaker 3: Well, I worked with Clark Kellogg my first year and

448
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,560
Speaker 3: then I worked solo for seven years. That they would

449
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 3: always give me a guy in the playoffs. So I

450
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 3: had Billy Keller, I had George McGinnis, I had Ceasting,

451
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 3: I had Slick one time. And then the first time

452
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,359
Speaker 3: the Pacers made a playoff run was ninety three ninety four.

453
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 3: Slick was my guy. I'd worked solo the whole season.

454
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,320
Speaker 3: He was my playoff guy, and the Pacers made a

455
00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 3: long run and they decided they liked sound, and then

456
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,359
Speaker 3: he was my guy. Although at the end he mostly

457
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,720
Speaker 3: either did it remotely or just home games as his

458
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 3: health started to fail. But we were together in some way,

459
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,639
Speaker 3: shape or form for almost thirty years.

460
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: And during that time. In those thirty years, you know,

461
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: obviously Nancy Leonard was coming to the games and was

462
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 1: you know, for the better part of assuming that her

463
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 1: health would be good. She was ubiquitous down at games beforehand,

464
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:30,960
Speaker 1: and those sorts of things. What did your personal relationship become,

465
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 1: not just with Slick but also with Nancy as well,

466
00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: because you mentioned you know they were partners. How did

467
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,280
Speaker 1: they I guess impact you.

468
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 3: Well, this isn't the whole story, but I'll give you

469
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 3: a story that illustrates the relationship. When I came here,

470
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:50,840
Speaker 3: I've been here for thirty seven years. But when I

471
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 3: came here and I was working my way to this

472
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,720
Speaker 3: point in my career, I had seven jobs my first

473
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 3: nine years. Now each one was better, but I was

474
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 3: very trans so I signed on for two years. I

475
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 3: figured I'd stay and then move on to something else.

476
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 3: And from the day I met Slick, you always used

477
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 3: to tell me you got to own the ground you

478
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 3: live on. Well, I'm not building a house here. After

479
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 3: seven or eight years, I decided maybe I'd be here

480
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,120
Speaker 3: for a while, so I decided to build a house.

481
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,440
Speaker 3: Nancy was my real estate agent. Their son Tommy built

482
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 3: my house. So that's an illustration of how far I

483
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,120
Speaker 3: go back with the lesson. And by the way, Nancy

484
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 3: was the greatest real estate agent ever because she was

485
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 3: like a tiger. If you went into the cage with

486
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 3: her and you were properly armed, you were going to

487
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 3: get eaten. She was your advocate. I didn't even need attention.

488
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,480
Speaker 3: She just handled everything. That's how she was. She was determined,

489
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,920
Speaker 3: she was smart, She thought of all the angles. She

490
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 3: was just a really fantastic person. And beyond that, she

491
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,720
Speaker 3: was smart, she was intuitive. I can't even think of

492
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 3: enough positive terms to stick next to her name, because

493
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 3: he is just magnificent.

494
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 1: Well, and she marked in that what you'd mentioned, you know.

495
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 1: I know that when when Slick Leonard, for example, began

496
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: working for HERF Jones and they were living in Kokomo,

497
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:22,160
Speaker 1: she was I think working at the local high school,

498
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 1: you know. But in addition to that, she really helped

499
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 1: him out. And again to your point, I don't want

500
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 1: to under sell Slick Leonard's intellect by any stretch of

501
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,440
Speaker 1: the imagination. You don't, you know, run an organization from

502
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 1: a coaching standpoint and win the number of games he

503
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 1: did by being a dummy. I mean, obviously the guy

504
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: was a smart guy, but from the business intuitive nature

505
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 1: of this is how things need to be done. Maybe

506
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: she wasn't the one that strong armed him in that regard,

507
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 1: but certainly was there to assist him in that regard.

508
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,040
Speaker 1: Fair statement, you.

509
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,800
Speaker 3: Know I'm not there for those conversations. That seems fair

510
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 3: to me. And I know that he held her advice

511
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 3: and counsel and the highest possible esteem. So I'm certain

512
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,440
Speaker 3: even though I wasn't there for those conversations, I'm quite

513
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 3: certain that you're onto something.

514
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: Mark when you you know the summertimes oftentime in the

515
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:12,960
Speaker 1: off season, and this year the off season was much

516
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 1: shorter than in years past for the obvious reasons. But

517
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,680
Speaker 1: you have always found different ways to fill the time,

518
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 1: whether it be going in broadcasting minor league baseball, whether

519
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 1: it be walking around the state raising money. You have

520
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,240
Speaker 1: spent your time this offseason doing exactly.

521
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,160
Speaker 3: What, going to bed at night and hoping I wake

522
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 3: up in the morning.

523
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 1: That's I quoted down the years, I guess right, that's listen, listen.

524
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,840
Speaker 1: That seems like lofty goals each day, right.

525
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 3: Well, you get the loftier they are.

526
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean. And here's the other thing. What

527
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 1: better reward each morning than to know you you succeeded

528
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:53,880
Speaker 1: another day?

529
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 4: Right?

530
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,960
Speaker 3: Well, I've been really blessed with genetics and such so

531
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 3: that I literally but almost never gets sick. Now I'm

532
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 3: at the age and this happened to me the summer.

533
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,880
Speaker 3: I got shingles, and at first then but like three

534
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 3: days and I thought, okay, this is it. I'm glad

535
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:11,240
Speaker 3: I have my will written. I'm dying.

536
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:16,520
Speaker 1: I listen, I've heard and I'm not trying to make

537
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,160
Speaker 1: light of it. I when I turned fifty, you know,

538
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,240
Speaker 1: they're like, you got to get the shingles. It's a

539
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: two shot vaccine, and the second one was I mean,

540
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,920
Speaker 1: it was pretty brutal. And then people said to me

541
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 1: that have had shingles, well, listen, that's better than the alternative.

542
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 1: Because I hear it's grueling, it's brutal.

543
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:37,480
Speaker 3: I can't really compare it because I've had it time

544
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 3: and I don't know how extreme it gets. But it's

545
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 3: not pleasant. I can tell you that. And I will

546
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,120
Speaker 3: tell you this. You're on a good piece of land there.

547
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 3: Because I had chicken pox as a kid. I got

548
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 3: those vaccinations. And when I went in, when I realized

549
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:54,480
Speaker 3: I had to go to my doctor, he said, I'm

550
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 3: surprised only three percent of the people and your circumstances

551
00:32:57,560 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 3: get it. I said, well, thanks, man, that doesn't really

552
00:32:59,600 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 3: help me.

553
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: Listen, there is no reason for you to buy a

554
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,880
Speaker 1: Powerball ticket ever again, because you just spent all your

555
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:07,880
Speaker 1: your odds, right.

556
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:12,440
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, so is the at least for me, I

557
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,880
Speaker 3: still feel great. I still have my health, and I'm

558
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 3: there's no day where I don't feel fortunate a for

559
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 3: that and be to have this job and see for

560
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,320
Speaker 3: the people I work with and all of the other

561
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,360
Speaker 3: things that are associated with that. But the reality is this.

562
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,400
Speaker 3: I used to joke when I was a kid, not

563
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 3: a child, but in my twenties, I've always been Jake.

564
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,320
Speaker 3: I've always been so forgetful, and I always joke with

565
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 3: my friends man, if I ever dementia, I'm not even

566
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,600
Speaker 3: gonna know. Well, now when I forget something, it's, oh

567
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,680
Speaker 3: my god, Dementia's.

568
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:49,320
Speaker 1: Listen, it's I there's You've never said anything in your

569
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 1: radio career that is more relatable to me than that, right,

570
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: it is. Every day it's oh my gosh, you know.

571
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,479
Speaker 1: And here's the other thing with me, Mark, Mark, I

572
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,800
Speaker 1: think that I'm cursed by it because everyone has told

573
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 1: me my entire life what a phenomenal memory I have,

574
00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 1: and I'm like, shut up, don't chinse it?

575
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:09,279
Speaker 4: Right?

576
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I never had that phenomenal memory. It was

577
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,719
Speaker 3: good enough to get me where I needed to go.

578
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 3: But if you talk to anybody I've traveled with, even

579
00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:19,960
Speaker 3: back to my first years here, Remember the time Mark

580
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 3: left his keys in Chicago. Remember the time he forgot

581
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:25,800
Speaker 3: that suit in New York. Yeah, well I always forget stuff,

582
00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:31,319
Speaker 3: and so that's standard operating procedure for me. But the

583
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,439
Speaker 3: point I'm making here is that the older you get,

584
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,839
Speaker 3: your perception is different. Whereas I just blew it off

585
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:38,319
Speaker 3: and I was in my thirties. Hey, hey, I've been

586
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 3: that way. Now I'm oh, I can see the finish line. Yeah,

587
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 3: so you overreact the other way.

588
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,319
Speaker 1: Okay, lastly, Mark, and then I wanted to ask you

589
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 1: one more thing on Nancy. But you know, speaking of memory,

590
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,400
Speaker 1: it obviously was a memorable run for the Pacers, and

591
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,200
Speaker 1: now it comes at a season of intrigue because of

592
00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 1: the injury to Halliburton and because of you know, some

593
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,480
Speaker 1: different players that may be called upon to play in

594
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,960
Speaker 1: different roles with the Miles Turner departure, for example, how

595
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 1: intrigued are you by the upcoming season?

596
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 4: Very?

597
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,000
Speaker 3: I don't see championship contention in the mix short term,

598
00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:18,520
Speaker 3: although if things developed, we hope they might This season

599
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 3: when Haliburton comes back, assuming a complete recovery, then next

600
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 3: season will be really intriguing. For now, I don't see

601
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 3: any reason that this group of guys, particularly in a

602
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,960
Speaker 3: conference that isn't that good, can at least contend for

603
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,280
Speaker 3: a playoff spot, And I think that would be positive.

604
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,840
Speaker 3: Given that you lost your player and one of the

605
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,640
Speaker 3: other tops, say three players decided to go somewhere else,

606
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 3: that's a huge loss. And if you can overcome that

607
00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:46,320
Speaker 3: by getting to the playoffs, I think that would be

608
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,000
Speaker 3: an excellent season mark.

609
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 1: When I recall vividly when Slick Leonard passed, and I

610
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 1: know you know what an incredible impact he had on you,

611
00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 1: both personally and professionally, and I would assume the same

612
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,360
Speaker 1: as true of Nancy, as you had talked about earlier.

613
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:07,440
Speaker 1: But I remember you leading off your broadcast with an

614
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,760
Speaker 1: incredible and articulate tribute to Slick and what he meant.

615
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,479
Speaker 1: I wanted to give you the opportunity to simply let

616
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,880
Speaker 1: our listeners know that may not have known of the impact,

617
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,279
Speaker 1: the importance, the significance of Nancy Leonard, not just on

618
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:25,240
Speaker 1: the Pacers franchise, but in this town. From the vantage

619
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:28,239
Speaker 1: point in which you saw it if you could just

620
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:32,319
Speaker 1: let people know exactly who or what Nancy Leonard was as.

621
00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 3: A person, Well, I think we've already covered most of that,

622
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,120
Speaker 3: So to capitalize it, I would say her impact on

623
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 3: our franchise, not anyone that knew her, on the city

624
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:49,880
Speaker 3: and states is immeasurable personally if you ever get to

625
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 3: meet not one, but in my case two, And I'm

626
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,839
Speaker 3: not suggesting I haven't met other great people, but if

627
00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,040
Speaker 3: you ever get to meet one person like Nancy Leonard

628
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,040
Speaker 3: or one person likes Click Leonard, then consider yourself lucky.

629
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 1: Mark. I appreciate the time. Certainly help you feel better,

630
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,799
Speaker 1: by the way, if you have not begun feeling better yet? Right,

631
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,840
Speaker 1: and just so you know, in three days, I'll text

632
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,560
Speaker 1: you to make sure you remember coming on the radio.

633
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:14,920
Speaker 1: How's that?

634
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:17,240
Speaker 5: Who are you again?

635
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:22,919
Speaker 1: I get that a lot. Anyway, I appreciate it, Mark,

636
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,240
Speaker 1: Mark Boyle joining us the radio play by play voice

637
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:31,239
Speaker 1: of the Indiana Pacers. I will begin by saying what

638
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,120
Speaker 1: I have been saying throughout the course of today, and

639
00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:38,120
Speaker 1: that is that, as somebody who grew up in this town,

640
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,880
Speaker 1: I have such a pride for the teams in this city.

641
00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,240
Speaker 1: And in addition, to that the way that this city

642
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,600
Speaker 1: has embraced sports and really built its identity around sports.

643
00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:53,880
Speaker 1: And it is my belief that perhaps the strongest pillar

644
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,560
Speaker 1: in all of that was Nancy Leonard. And without Nancy

645
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,439
Speaker 1: Leonard and her vision for the Pacers, her vision for

646
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 1: being able to cement them within the NBA, coming from

647
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 1: the ABA, I don't know that you get expansion of

648
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,919
Speaker 1: the Convention Center and the building of the Hoosier Dome

649
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,240
Speaker 1: and eventually an NFL franchise and all of the things

650
00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:15,839
Speaker 1: that we now enjoy. And it is a sad day,

651
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:17,759
Speaker 1: but the day that we celebrate Nancy Leonard here in

652
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 1: Indianapolis and joining me now on the program he is

653
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 1: the president of basketball Operations for the Indiana Pacers. Kevin

654
00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,440
Speaker 1: Pritchard joining us, Kevin on what I know is again

655
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,200
Speaker 1: a sad day, but at the same time a celebratory day.

656
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,239
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time in being able to reflect on

657
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:35,040
Speaker 1: Nancy Leonard.

658
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:36,040
Speaker 4: Now.

659
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 5: Glad to be on, Jake, and congratulations to you and

660
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 5: your success. And you know, coming from Indianapolis and growing

661
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 5: up in Lawrence and Noblesville, I remember going to a

662
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:56,280
Speaker 5: fifth grade basketball camp with the Pacers and meeting Nancy

663
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:58,680
Speaker 5: and Slick at that time, and they were just they

664
00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:03,160
Speaker 5: were bigger than life. And you know, if you've met him,

665
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,680
Speaker 5: you'd think that you were their best friends. And you know,

666
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:11,359
Speaker 5: throughout my tenure, I've been very blessed to work with

667
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:16,360
Speaker 5: Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird and like the foundational piece

668
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:20,319
Speaker 5: that they're about is people first. And you know, I'm

669
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,399
Speaker 5: getting a little sad talking about it because it's such

670
00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,839
Speaker 5: a blow to not just the Pacers organization, but what

671
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 5: the Leonards and specifically Nancy has done for this community.

672
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,440
Speaker 5: It can't be measured. You just.

673
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:44,080
Speaker 4: Lost, specifically, can you hear me?

674
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:45,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry about that, Go ahead, Kevin.

675
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:50,799
Speaker 5: She just she just was a pillar of this community.

676
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 5: And the one thing you knew about Nancy is there's

677
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:58,400
Speaker 5: nothing more and she didn't have any more pride than

678
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 5: the Pacers. And it was because she was the original.

679
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:05,480
Speaker 5: She was the og general manager. And you know, we

680
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,839
Speaker 5: hired Kelly Cross Golf as one of the you know,

681
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:13,360
Speaker 5: top females in the business a few years ago to

682
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,720
Speaker 5: be an executive for the Pacers, but the original was Nancy.

683
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:23,480
Speaker 5: And it's a really, really sad day. I'm proud on

684
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 5: one thing, and that is you know, she came to

685
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:31,960
Speaker 5: some playoff games this year and I would see her

686
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 5: after a big home win, and it just you could

687
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:37,799
Speaker 5: tell there was just this amount of pride that can't

688
00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 5: be described in words. And I wish we could have

689
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:45,640
Speaker 5: won a championship, because today I could have said that

690
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:49,840
Speaker 5: she would have won a championship, you know, another championship

691
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:54,560
Speaker 5: for the organization. And so it's a tough loss.

692
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 4: It's a really tough loss.

693
00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:00,680
Speaker 1: You know, Kevin, I was thinking about this in life

694
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:04,719
Speaker 1: in general, and no matter what realm or relationship you

695
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,960
Speaker 1: have with people, oftentimes you know you look back, whether

696
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,920
Speaker 1: it be they're passing, or you know, you go to

697
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:12,680
Speaker 1: another job, whatever it may be, there are always times

698
00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:14,239
Speaker 1: where you look back and you think I should have

699
00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 1: said this, or I wish I'd done that. You know,

700
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,799
Speaker 1: that kind of a thing for you personally and for

701
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:23,319
Speaker 1: the organization. What is the element of pride or can

702
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:26,359
Speaker 1: you speak to it in knowing that you are right?

703
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,200
Speaker 1: I mean it was a half away from a title,

704
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:31,400
Speaker 1: I get that, but yet it was such an incredible

705
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:35,600
Speaker 1: run of joy in Euphoria and this town that cemented

706
00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:39,400
Speaker 1: again the relationship between this town and that organization and

707
00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,799
Speaker 1: professional basketball in the Indiana Pacers and Nancy Leonard being

708
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:46,080
Speaker 1: able to hug Myles Turner, to hug Tyre's Halliburton, to

709
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:49,360
Speaker 1: soak in and see the fruits of her labor before

710
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 1: her almost feels like it was this town's way of

711
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:57,080
Speaker 1: saying thank you, job well done. What does it mean

712
00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:59,120
Speaker 1: for you to know that you were somebody who helped

713
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,440
Speaker 1: facilitate that and be able to have her enjoy that?

714
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,440
Speaker 5: Well, I can tell you this that I do remember

715
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:14,320
Speaker 5: hugging her after some playoff games, and you know, you see,

716
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:17,520
Speaker 5: you can just you know, you can see when somebody's

717
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,760
Speaker 5: all in right, Like there's there's people that are fans

718
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,000
Speaker 5: or people that come to the games. But she was

719
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:29,880
Speaker 5: the queen of the Pacers, and you know, you always,

720
00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:33,239
Speaker 5: you always felt her presence, no matter whether she was

721
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:35,959
Speaker 5: at the game or not. She would always walk by

722
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:39,840
Speaker 5: the management room and say hello. And you know I

723
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:44,320
Speaker 5: remember many times seeing her, you know, throughout the community

724
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:48,120
Speaker 5: at a golf event or or you know, any any

725
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,360
Speaker 5: out to dinner. And I was kevy, you know, I

726
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:56,279
Speaker 5: wasn't you know, mister Pritchard or anything like that. I

727
00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 5: was heavy to her. And you know, they had a

728
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:04,520
Speaker 5: great feel of making you feel like you were part

729
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 5: of their family. And I think I think that trickles

730
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:11,359
Speaker 5: down today to the Pacers. And you know, again, I'm

731
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 5: not sure you could measure that. That's measurable in terms

732
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:20,480
Speaker 5: of influence and love and caring. And it wasn't a team,

733
00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:24,479
Speaker 5: it wasn't an organization. It was a family to her.

734
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:26,720
Speaker 3: And you know, as.

735
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 5: I'm reflecting back, I hope in some ways that I

736
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 5: can do that and make people around us and in

737
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,680
Speaker 5: the organization and our fan base know that, yeah, we

738
00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:39,480
Speaker 5: want to win as much, but when we do this together,

739
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,480
Speaker 5: we win together and we lose together. And I think

740
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,000
Speaker 5: that's what I felt, because during tough times she was

741
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:49,399
Speaker 5: the same way as she was during a championship run.

742
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,520
Speaker 5: So I think that's that's the one thing that I

743
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 5: will remember about her, is no matter what, I was

744
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:55,960
Speaker 5: part of her family.

745
00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:59,359
Speaker 1: Kevin, when you look back, Kevin Pritchard is our guest

746
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:03,319
Speaker 1: from the pace, were remembering Nancy Leonard today. The partnership,

747
00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, as I've talked about with others today

748
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,760
Speaker 1: goes without saying the incredible bond of love between Nancy

749
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:13,360
Speaker 1: and Slick Leonard. And you know, you could see that immediately.

750
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:16,640
Speaker 1: But also, you know, going back to the telethon the

751
00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:20,800
Speaker 1: partnership that the two of them had, and her ability,

752
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:25,160
Speaker 1: her business acumen, her vision for the franchise, all of

753
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,920
Speaker 1: those things. Did you witness firsthand or can you illuminate

754
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,520
Speaker 1: us on something you might have seen in terms of

755
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:34,719
Speaker 1: the influence on a day to day that she had

756
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 1: on Slick Leonard.

757
00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:40,800
Speaker 5: Well, I think you know, how do I say this politely?

758
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 5: Flick out a lot of passion and sometimes when you

759
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:50,680
Speaker 5: have that passion, sometimes you need to have someone right

760
00:44:50,719 --> 00:44:53,320
Speaker 5: next to your side saying it's going to be okay,

761
00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:56,920
Speaker 5: We're gonna figure this out. And the other thing I

762
00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,440
Speaker 5: would tell you about Nancy is, you know, I just

763
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:03,480
Speaker 5: there was no way she was going to accept no.

764
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:07,560
Speaker 5: I mean, she she had a way of, you know,

765
00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:11,440
Speaker 5: being influential in a very positive way. But the last

766
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:13,160
Speaker 5: thing I ever felt like I could do is they

767
00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:16,439
Speaker 5: know to her, And she did it in a way

768
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 5: that was her own way, with her own words and

769
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:22,480
Speaker 5: her own feel and her own touch. And that's a

770
00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:26,600
Speaker 5: special touch. But her and Slick were you know, I

771
00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,759
Speaker 5: don't know if you could talk about Slick without talking

772
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:32,200
Speaker 5: about Nancy. It's just they were the Leonards. They were

773
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:35,640
Speaker 5: the king and Queen of the Pacers, and you know

774
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:38,520
Speaker 5: that's that's immeasurable.

775
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:41,640
Speaker 1: Again, had you not grown up here, Kevin and been

776
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:43,319
Speaker 1: around at what you did, I mean obviously as you

777
00:45:43,360 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 1: mentioned at the outset, but if you had come here

778
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:50,080
Speaker 1: from an organization where you didn't have ties to Indiana

779
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:53,359
Speaker 1: other than taking the job here, would you have immediately

780
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:57,000
Speaker 1: known of the impact of the Leonards. Was it the

781
00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:59,399
Speaker 1: kind of thing that's introduced to people when they come

782
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,799
Speaker 1: here or do you just kind of see it from

783
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:02,799
Speaker 1: the immediacy.

784
00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:08,839
Speaker 5: No, I think you know, any official events, whether it's

785
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:13,480
Speaker 5: a banquet or a meeting, or you know, where they

786
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:18,000
Speaker 5: were involved, you knew the Leonards like you know, I

787
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:20,520
Speaker 5: lived here until I was twelve or thirteen, and then

788
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,640
Speaker 5: I moved away, and then I came back, and immediately

789
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:27,719
Speaker 5: the first thing I do is, you know, communicate with

790
00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:32,840
Speaker 5: the Leonards and touch base with those would both Slick

791
00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:36,680
Speaker 5: and Nancy. But I always just felt like they were

792
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:38,800
Speaker 5: my family, and they may be part of the family.

793
00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:41,520
Speaker 4: Whether I was, you.

794
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:45,239
Speaker 5: Know, five thousand miles away or a mile away. They

795
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,640
Speaker 5: just they embodied what the Pacers are today and what

796
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:53,279
Speaker 5: they were back then, and I remember specifically the teleton

797
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,759
Speaker 5: and you know, I was a really young boy when

798
00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:01,000
Speaker 5: that happened, but you know I grew up and who

799
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,920
Speaker 5: who the Pacers were? Who was the face of the

800
00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 5: franchise for many years and still are?

801
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:11,400
Speaker 1: You know, Chris texted in a listener Kevin and pointed

802
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,279
Speaker 1: this out. I thought it was a fabulous idea. If

803
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,080
Speaker 1: Nancy Leonard's name goes up in the rafters, which you know,

804
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:19,680
Speaker 1: Tyre's Haliburton even mentioned that he'd love to see it.

805
00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:23,120
Speaker 1: I realized that that's above both of us for that matter,

806
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:27,160
Speaker 1: but in terms of those decisions, But each person that's

807
00:47:27,160 --> 00:47:31,160
Speaker 1: in the rafters, excluding Mel Simon and Jim Morris, you know,

808
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,160
Speaker 1: there's a number attached to them in some way, and

809
00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 1: slicks case, it's the number of career wins. I think

810
00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:39,160
Speaker 1: it should say Nancy Leonard eighty twenty eight because that's

811
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 1: the number of season tickets that were needed from the telethon,

812
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:43,960
Speaker 1: and that's the number she was so joyous in being

813
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,239
Speaker 1: able to announce that essentially quote unquote saved the Pacers. Now,

814
00:47:47,239 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 1: I give that a thumbs up idea.

815
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:55,360
Speaker 5: Your thoughts, I completely agree, thumbs up and I wasn't

816
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:59,240
Speaker 5: aware of that exact number, but god that back then.

817
00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,640
Speaker 5: You know, it seems like a low number today, but

818
00:48:03,239 --> 00:48:07,520
Speaker 5: when you were growing up, that was monumental and just

819
00:48:07,719 --> 00:48:11,080
Speaker 5: saved the Pacers. And like you said earlier heard in

820
00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:15,640
Speaker 5: the segment, you know, the Pacers led to the Convention

821
00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:18,360
Speaker 5: Center and the Colts and then you know it just

822
00:48:18,719 --> 00:48:23,040
Speaker 5: it's snowballed into this incredible sports town. And whether you

823
00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:26,719
Speaker 5: go anywhere in the United States, the first thing people say, well,

824
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:30,760
Speaker 5: Indianapolis is an incredible sportstown. And I think we all

825
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:35,600
Speaker 5: from Indiana. We take a lot of you know, I

826
00:48:35,640 --> 00:48:38,360
Speaker 5: remember back when the nca tournament was going to be

827
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,400
Speaker 5: canceled and Indianapolis popped up and said, hey, we will

828
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:45,279
Speaker 5: host all these basketball games for the NCAA tournament. And

829
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:48,200
Speaker 5: then everybody was like, holy cow, what an incredible job

830
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:52,080
Speaker 5: Indianapolis did. And you think about that, that doesn't happen

831
00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:55,759
Speaker 5: if the Pacers aren't here, and if that, if the

832
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:59,720
Speaker 5: Pacers are here, and again how that transcended into other things.

833
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:02,880
Speaker 5: There'd be no way the NCAA is here. There'd be

834
00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:06,400
Speaker 5: no way that tournament could have gotten played in Indianapolis.

835
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:11,080
Speaker 5: So it was a snowball effect, and I think it

836
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:15,120
Speaker 5: still grows. And for me, as a steward of a

837
00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:18,000
Speaker 5: team in this town, alls we want to do is

838
00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:24,000
Speaker 5: keep it going and keeping Indianapolis great, an amazing place

839
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:28,480
Speaker 5: where sports not only as important, it's part of our culture.

840
00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:31,360
Speaker 5: So I hope in some way that we can be

841
00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:36,920
Speaker 5: good stewards of that helmet that she created.

842
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:42,120
Speaker 1: Lastly, Kevin, when it comes to Nancy Leonard, I'm curious

843
00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:44,879
Speaker 1: of this when you come in and you know you're

844
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:47,960
Speaker 1: in that position and you are the president of basketball

845
00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:51,839
Speaker 1: operations and you have a woman sitting there near you

846
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:55,400
Speaker 1: at the games that was one of the original, the

847
00:49:55,520 --> 00:50:00,000
Speaker 1: original as you mentioned, you know, pioneer executives of the franchise.

848
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:05,239
Speaker 1: Did she carry with her a confidence or exude any

849
00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:09,920
Speaker 1: sort of a belief of her knowing her own standing

850
00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:13,400
Speaker 1: or was there an elegance about it where you just

851
00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:15,560
Speaker 1: kind of knew it and she didn't have to say it.

852
00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:21,359
Speaker 5: Oh. I think that's a difficult question, because she had

853
00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:28,160
Speaker 5: an amazing elegance. I just I just think that the

854
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 5: Leonard's presence was always felt, and you know, you couldn't

855
00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:38,719
Speaker 5: remove the Pacers and the Leonards. It just it goes in.

856
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:40,240
Speaker 4: The same sentence.

857
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:45,839
Speaker 5: It's attached and it's it's meaningful. But when when when

858
00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:49,120
Speaker 5: I would hug her, it wasn't like, oh hi, you know,

859
00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 5: a little side hugged. When you hugged Flick and Nancy,

860
00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:59,359
Speaker 5: it was an embrace and it was meaningful. And they

861
00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:03,520
Speaker 5: just had a way of touching everybody, you know, like

862
00:51:04,120 --> 00:51:07,480
Speaker 5: again calling me Kevy, and you know they did that

863
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:10,239
Speaker 5: with a lot of people. But for some reason, it

864
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,680
Speaker 5: just made you feel like you were a home and

865
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:18,160
Speaker 5: that's irreplaceable. You don't feel fill those shoes.

866
00:51:17,719 --> 00:51:23,240
Speaker 1: Ever, Kevin. Obviously you know on this program the season

867
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:25,840
Speaker 1: is getting ready to get underway. There was a transaction

868
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:29,400
Speaker 1: that took place yesterday that was announced in adding a

869
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:31,759
Speaker 1: point guard in Monti Morris. There are a lot of

870
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:34,319
Speaker 1: things in that aspect. I could ask you about it,

871
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:36,759
Speaker 1: probably in the eyes of many would be remissive me

872
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:39,360
Speaker 1: to not do so. However, when I asked you to

873
00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:41,920
Speaker 1: come on the program today, it was under the guys

874
00:51:41,920 --> 00:51:45,160
Speaker 1: of being able to talk about and reflect upon and

875
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:48,000
Speaker 1: celebrate the life of Nancy Leonard. And I think in

876
00:51:48,080 --> 00:51:50,879
Speaker 1: the integrity of that, I keep it to that and

877
00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:53,640
Speaker 1: certainly would welcome you back on another time from a

878
00:51:53,640 --> 00:51:56,560
Speaker 1: basketball standpoint, but I appreciate the perspectives today.

879
00:51:57,640 --> 00:52:00,000
Speaker 4: Yep. Glad to do it and keep up the great.

880
00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:03,160
Speaker 1: World, Jake, appreciate it. Kevin Pritcher joining us, the president

881
00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:07,360
Speaker 1: of basketball Operations for the Indiana Pacers, as we celebrate

882
00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:10,160
Speaker 1: today the life of Nancy Leonard at the age of

883
00:52:10,280 --> 00:52:15,400
Speaker 1: ninety three years old. Yes, joining me now on the program.

884
00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:18,000
Speaker 1: Somebody who knew Nancy Well, who knew Slickwell, who was

885
00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:23,240
Speaker 1: a historian not only of Indianapolis, but obviously a published

886
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:25,760
Speaker 1: author in the history of the Indiana Pacers as well.

887
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:29,080
Speaker 1: His website is Markmonteeth dot com. Mark joins me on

888
00:52:29,120 --> 00:52:32,359
Speaker 1: the show. Mark, Good afternoon. How are you good, Jake.

889
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:33,160
Speaker 4: Good to be with you.

890
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:33,719
Speaker 3: Hey.

891
00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:37,239
Speaker 1: I want to begin with this, and you know, the

892
00:52:37,239 --> 00:52:39,360
Speaker 1: things that I was just talking about, I wanted to

893
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:42,319
Speaker 1: kind of lay that for you to take off with.

894
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:45,719
Speaker 1: And that is I think that we know about the

895
00:52:45,800 --> 00:52:50,640
Speaker 1: colorful caricature of Slick Leonard, and we know about the

896
00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:54,080
Speaker 1: the ABA Championships, and you know, just the wild and crazy,

897
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:56,400
Speaker 1: good old fun days, if you will, of the Pacers.

898
00:52:56,480 --> 00:53:00,200
Speaker 1: But I know that people know of the impact that

899
00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:03,040
Speaker 1: Nancy Leonard had, But I don't think we can overstate it.

900
00:53:03,120 --> 00:53:07,600
Speaker 1: Can you illuminate for listeners just how centralized and important

901
00:53:07,600 --> 00:53:08,440
Speaker 1: a figures she was.

902
00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:14,280
Speaker 6: Yeah, I would say on both a professional and personal level,

903
00:53:14,600 --> 00:53:19,160
Speaker 6: the support and the backbone that she provided for first

904
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:22,160
Speaker 6: of all Slick in their family and then the Pacers

905
00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:26,960
Speaker 6: was absolutely essential. I used to half jokingly say, hey,

906
00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:28,759
Speaker 6: Slick would have died a long time ago if it

907
00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:31,840
Speaker 6: wasn't for Nancy. I really think that's true, because she

908
00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:36,240
Speaker 6: kept him organized and under control, as well as anybody

909
00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:39,520
Speaker 6: to keep Slick under control, and just kept him going,

910
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:43,080
Speaker 6: you know, providing support. Slick once told me that he

911
00:53:43,160 --> 00:53:45,200
Speaker 6: never wrote a checkon in his life, you know, he

912
00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 6: never He didn't know how to work his phone. Really,

913
00:53:48,760 --> 00:53:51,719
Speaker 6: he didn't know how to work computers. He didn't know

914
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:56,000
Speaker 6: how to balance books or anything. He was the front man,

915
00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:58,359
Speaker 6: you know, when he worked for Hers Jones selling those

916
00:53:58,440 --> 00:53:59,560
Speaker 6: graduation supplies.

917
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:00,400
Speaker 4: He made calls.

918
00:54:00,520 --> 00:54:04,520
Speaker 6: She was the personality. Nancy ran the business back home.

919
00:54:04,719 --> 00:54:07,280
Speaker 6: She was a business teacher at Cocomon Taylor High School.

920
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:09,759
Speaker 6: When Slick became the Pacer coach, she was the one

921
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:11,839
Speaker 6: capable of doing that kind of thing. And then later

922
00:54:12,239 --> 00:54:15,399
Speaker 6: when he's the coach and GM of the pacers. She's

923
00:54:15,440 --> 00:54:18,480
Speaker 6: the one running the front office, like a twelve man

924
00:54:18,520 --> 00:54:20,719
Speaker 6: group of people who worked like crazy to keep the

925
00:54:20,760 --> 00:54:26,960
Speaker 6: doors open. And she was very bold and decisive and

926
00:54:27,080 --> 00:54:33,000
Speaker 6: demanding and just kept the franchise going behind the scenes

927
00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,480
Speaker 6: when he was out there coaching and making trades. And

928
00:54:35,520 --> 00:54:37,319
Speaker 6: some people believe she had a hand in some of

929
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:40,200
Speaker 6: the personnel moves too, and I wouldn't be surprised by that.

930
00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:42,360
Speaker 6: She kind of denied it, but I really think she

931
00:54:42,440 --> 00:54:47,280
Speaker 6: occasionally had an opinion that was followed on certain personnel matters.

932
00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:53,160
Speaker 6: So a very strong personality, but a very nice, generous

933
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:55,439
Speaker 6: person at the same time. I was with her once

934
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:58,839
Speaker 6: and she'd had a glass or to a wine and

935
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:02,200
Speaker 6: she said I was person and I kind of laughed.

936
00:55:02,239 --> 00:55:04,239
Speaker 6: I said, at least you're plenty of nice. But I

937
00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:06,360
Speaker 6: know what she meant, because she could be very stern

938
00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:09,520
Speaker 6: as well. You did not want to cross her, you know,

939
00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:11,640
Speaker 6: you didn't want her to get mad at you. But

940
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:14,319
Speaker 6: at the same time, she was a very generous, good

941
00:55:14,360 --> 00:55:16,799
Speaker 6: harted person and that certainly came through day to day.

942
00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:21,120
Speaker 1: You know, Mark, It's interesting. There were so many people

943
00:55:21,280 --> 00:55:24,359
Speaker 1: in the life and I want to go back to

944
00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:26,560
Speaker 1: something I said earlier, and I said this to Bill

945
00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:28,279
Speaker 1: Benner off the top of the show mark, and I'll

946
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:32,760
Speaker 1: say it to you as well. I on a personal

947
00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:35,360
Speaker 1: or selfish level, which maybe I'm guilty of too often,

948
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:39,799
Speaker 1: but you know, for me, it would be disingenuous to

949
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:43,680
Speaker 1: say that I was around in this capacity when Nancy

950
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:46,520
Speaker 1: Leonard and Slick Leonard were, you know, at their apex.

951
00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:49,280
Speaker 1: I mean I did not know them in those days,

952
00:55:49,719 --> 00:55:52,200
Speaker 1: nor did I know either of them well anything other

953
00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:55,680
Speaker 1: than professional. And for that reason, it is with the

954
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:58,520
Speaker 1: utmost gratitude that I have the access to ask Bill

955
00:55:58,560 --> 00:56:00,719
Speaker 1: Benner or yourself or others. And I'm not saying that

956
00:56:00,719 --> 00:56:02,799
Speaker 1: because you say that you're older than I. I don't

957
00:56:02,840 --> 00:56:04,840
Speaker 1: mean it that way. But you you have covered it

958
00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:08,799
Speaker 1: from so many different areas and angles, and so I

959
00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:13,719
Speaker 1: wanted you to expand upon your understanding or what you

960
00:56:13,760 --> 00:56:20,160
Speaker 1: saw firsthand in terms of her ability. Nancy Leonard's to

961
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:23,960
Speaker 1: be somebody who, as I understand it, was one that

962
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:25,960
Speaker 1: Slick Leonard, and there probably were not a lot of

963
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:29,759
Speaker 1: people that Slick Leonard would defer to, but theoretically she

964
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:32,759
Speaker 1: was one of them. Did you witness that firsthand.

965
00:56:33,719 --> 00:56:38,120
Speaker 6: Yeah, no question, no question. I wrote about her an

966
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:43,680
Speaker 6: Slick at length various stops along the way, and I

967
00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:45,879
Speaker 6: did a one on one episode with Nancy as well

968
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:49,040
Speaker 6: in their living room one time. So did see a

969
00:56:49,080 --> 00:56:51,160
Speaker 6: lot of things firsthand. I could tell you one time

970
00:56:51,200 --> 00:56:54,919
Speaker 6: I was sitting in the living room interviewing both and

971
00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:58,800
Speaker 6: you know, Slick admitted that he was a little afraid

972
00:56:58,840 --> 00:57:01,120
Speaker 6: of her. I know you talked about this a little

973
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:02,920
Speaker 6: bit earlier, and that she kind of laughed at that,

974
00:57:03,080 --> 00:57:05,520
Speaker 6: and the Stick also got a little choked up just

975
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:09,640
Speaker 6: talking about what she meant to him. But she ran

976
00:57:09,680 --> 00:57:12,560
Speaker 6: the show at home, no questions about it. I could

977
00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:14,319
Speaker 6: tell you another time, Stick and Eye went down to

978
00:57:14,360 --> 00:57:17,200
Speaker 6: Louisville to play golf with Ralph Beard, who was a

979
00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:19,640
Speaker 6: three time All American the Kentucky and member of the

980
00:57:19,680 --> 00:57:22,680
Speaker 6: Indianapolis Olympians, and that he and Stick were in the

981
00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:24,800
Speaker 6: army together, so they were friends and I kind of

982
00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:27,960
Speaker 6: got them reunited, and Stick and I went to a

983
00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:31,959
Speaker 6: riverboat casino after we played golf, but Stick was afraid

984
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:34,640
Speaker 6: to tell Nancy what he was doing, so he said, yeah,

985
00:57:34,640 --> 00:57:37,000
Speaker 6: we went to dinner and I ran into Tom Jerry.

986
00:57:37,160 --> 00:57:38,439
Speaker 4: She's the athletic director at.

987
00:57:38,320 --> 00:57:40,720
Speaker 6: Louisville at the times that, you know, so we hung around,

988
00:57:40,760 --> 00:57:42,560
Speaker 6: so we're just getting back down, you know. But he

989
00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:46,040
Speaker 6: was afraid to tell her that he'd gone gambling after

990
00:57:46,200 --> 00:57:48,720
Speaker 6: we played golf, you know, And that shows you're really

991
00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:51,320
Speaker 6: kind of the respect he had for her and her

992
00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:54,280
Speaker 6: ability to kind of keep him in line because he

993
00:57:54,320 --> 00:57:55,960
Speaker 6: didn't want to get her mad at him, you know.

994
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:57,680
Speaker 6: And I'm sure there are plenty of times she did

995
00:57:57,720 --> 00:58:01,960
Speaker 6: get mad at him, you know, But Slick needed that because,

996
00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:04,560
Speaker 6: you know, he was just a guy from the opposite

997
00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:07,240
Speaker 6: side of the tracks that Nancy was from. She grew

998
00:58:07,360 --> 00:58:10,520
Speaker 6: up in an upper middle class family in South Bend.

999
00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:14,000
Speaker 6: Her dad had a construction company. Slick grew up poor

1000
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:17,360
Speaker 6: in Terre Haute, and you know, they never would have

1001
00:58:18,520 --> 00:58:22,520
Speaker 6: hooked up in the normal situation. But I know the

1002
00:58:22,560 --> 00:58:24,560
Speaker 6: story you have told it already, how they met and

1003
00:58:24,840 --> 00:58:28,240
Speaker 6: health class the freshman year at IU and Stick wonder

1004
00:58:28,280 --> 00:58:31,320
Speaker 6: over with his persistence in naivity, and she was a

1005
00:58:31,360 --> 00:58:33,480
Speaker 6: big sports fan, so the fact that he was on

1006
00:58:33,520 --> 00:58:36,800
Speaker 6: the basketball team really meant a lot to her, and

1007
00:58:37,040 --> 00:58:39,680
Speaker 6: that was part of his appeal as well. So in fact,

1008
00:58:39,680 --> 00:58:42,560
Speaker 6: when I U won the national championship in nineteen fifty three,

1009
00:58:42,800 --> 00:58:45,640
Speaker 6: they came back to Bloomington and there's a parade there

1010
00:58:45,680 --> 00:58:47,800
Speaker 6: around the town square in Bloemouton and Flicks in a

1011
00:58:47,840 --> 00:58:50,560
Speaker 6: convertible and Nancy hopped in the car with him. You know,

1012
00:58:50,600 --> 00:58:52,720
Speaker 6: she's riding around in the parade with him. And she

1013
00:58:52,880 --> 00:58:55,600
Speaker 6: was in the parade the pacer parades for winning ABA

1014
00:58:55,760 --> 00:58:59,000
Speaker 6: championships with him as well at times. So she was

1015
00:58:59,200 --> 00:59:03,840
Speaker 6: always the organization. People knew of her that they didn't

1016
00:59:03,920 --> 00:59:07,160
Speaker 6: really have an idea of how important she was to

1017
00:59:07,360 --> 00:59:12,000
Speaker 6: the operation of the franchise and just too slicks existence.

1018
00:59:12,600 --> 00:59:14,560
Speaker 1: Mark, you grew up in this town, Mark Monteith is

1019
00:59:14,600 --> 00:59:17,440
Speaker 1: my guest. You grew up in this town, you know,

1020
00:59:17,560 --> 00:59:19,360
Speaker 1: on the on the west side. You're a graduate of

1021
00:59:19,400 --> 00:59:22,160
Speaker 1: Pike High School, so you were like and Bill and

1022
00:59:22,200 --> 00:59:25,560
Speaker 1: I talked about this earlier for those that are listening,

1023
00:59:25,760 --> 00:59:28,640
Speaker 1: and I don't mean to belabor the point, but I

1024
00:59:28,680 --> 00:59:30,880
Speaker 1: think on a day like today, it's an important one

1025
00:59:30,920 --> 00:59:34,480
Speaker 1: to recognize, and that is that we we love the

1026
00:59:34,560 --> 00:59:37,360
Speaker 1: luxury in this town. You love the luxury being able

1027
00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:39,080
Speaker 1: to cover sports and write about it and run a

1028
00:59:39,080 --> 00:59:41,080
Speaker 1: website and do interviews and I love being able to

1029
00:59:41,120 --> 00:59:43,520
Speaker 1: do a sports talk radio show and talk about the

1030
00:59:43,560 --> 00:59:46,680
Speaker 1: Colts and Rams and the fever and the Indians and

1031
00:59:46,720 --> 00:59:50,240
Speaker 1: the NCAA here in town, and you know, the the

1032
00:59:50,280 --> 00:59:52,920
Speaker 1: eleven and the igniting, all the different things that go on.

1033
00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:59,760
Speaker 1: In your opinion, Mark, without Nancy and Slick Leonard and

1034
00:59:59,760 --> 01:00:02,760
Speaker 1: with out that telethon in nineteen seventy seven, I'm not

1035
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:04,880
Speaker 1: here to say that all of a sudden, we're Doomsday

1036
01:00:04,960 --> 01:00:08,560
Speaker 1: and we instantly become fort Wayne overnight. But it's not

1037
01:00:08,720 --> 01:00:11,480
Speaker 1: as far fetched as people would think. Would you agree

1038
01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:11,760
Speaker 1: with that?

1039
01:00:12,680 --> 01:00:13,000
Speaker 4: Yeah?

1040
01:00:13,120 --> 01:00:18,080
Speaker 6: I would, I would. I mean, the Pacers' survival has

1041
01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:21,680
Speaker 6: done so much for the city, and certainly you could

1042
01:00:21,760 --> 01:00:24,200
Speaker 6: argue that without sticking Nancy, they wouldn't be here today.

1043
01:00:24,280 --> 01:00:26,640
Speaker 6: I think it's about a dozen people you can point

1044
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:29,720
Speaker 6: to and say without that person, the Pacers would not exist.

1045
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:33,200
Speaker 6: Certainly Melvin Herb Simon would fall into that category. I

1046
01:00:33,200 --> 01:00:35,520
Speaker 6: think the group that doesn't get enough respect, or the

1047
01:00:35,560 --> 01:00:39,760
Speaker 6: original investors in nineteen sixty seven and eight who kicked

1048
01:00:39,800 --> 01:00:43,000
Speaker 6: in twenty thirds thirty thousand dollars apiece just to keep

1049
01:00:43,040 --> 01:00:43,840
Speaker 6: the doors open.

1050
01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:44,840
Speaker 4: That includes some.

1051
01:00:44,960 --> 01:00:48,360
Speaker 6: People in Lafayette as well. The PACER's first president was

1052
01:00:48,440 --> 01:00:51,800
Speaker 6: Joe Bannon, president at Lafayette Bank. You had these people

1053
01:00:51,800 --> 01:00:55,439
Speaker 6: who sought no glory and didn't really expect to make

1054
01:00:55,480 --> 01:00:58,840
Speaker 6: any money, kicking in money just to get the franchise started,

1055
01:00:59,240 --> 01:01:01,360
Speaker 6: you know. So you have to like that Yugosati had

1056
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:04,439
Speaker 6: not made that trade for mel Daniel in nineteen sixty eight,

1057
01:01:04,840 --> 01:01:06,720
Speaker 6: that they never would have been above a five hundred

1058
01:01:06,720 --> 01:01:08,560
Speaker 6: team and never would have survived. You know, there's a

1059
01:01:08,560 --> 01:01:11,880
Speaker 6: lot of people you can point to, but certainly Slick

1060
01:01:12,040 --> 01:01:17,160
Speaker 6: and Nancy are absolutely essential to the existence of the

1061
01:01:17,200 --> 01:01:20,680
Speaker 6: franchise today. And really, you know that telethon that people

1062
01:01:20,760 --> 01:01:23,240
Speaker 6: talk about so much. You know, Slick and Nancy were

1063
01:01:23,280 --> 01:01:26,080
Speaker 6: in Hawaii and there was like a postseason All Star game,

1064
01:01:26,080 --> 01:01:28,880
Speaker 6: and they were scouting and taking a vacation and word

1065
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:32,880
Speaker 6: came back from the absentee owner they had, Sam Nacy.

1066
01:01:33,320 --> 01:01:35,400
Speaker 6: The word came back that hey, if we don't raise

1067
01:01:35,440 --> 01:01:37,400
Speaker 6: a certain amount of money or get a guarantee of

1068
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:38,840
Speaker 6: season ticket sales.

1069
01:01:39,160 --> 01:01:40,400
Speaker 4: We're going to be sold.

1070
01:01:40,520 --> 01:01:43,960
Speaker 6: So they came back and Nancy had a week to

1071
01:01:44,000 --> 01:01:46,920
Speaker 6: ten days to put together a telethon, which is something

1072
01:01:46,960 --> 01:01:49,720
Speaker 6: that usually takes about a year to organize, but she

1073
01:01:49,840 --> 01:01:51,240
Speaker 6: got it done in about a week.

1074
01:01:51,080 --> 01:01:51,840
Speaker 4: To ten days.

1075
01:01:52,520 --> 01:01:57,160
Speaker 6: The Convincement Center donated space, RB's donated food. The telethon

1076
01:01:57,320 --> 01:02:00,800
Speaker 6: was aired on three of the four local TV channels.

1077
01:02:00,880 --> 01:02:03,640
Speaker 6: I mean the whole city combined to kick in and

1078
01:02:03,680 --> 01:02:06,480
Speaker 6: contributed to somehow people came in over at three in

1079
01:02:06,520 --> 01:02:09,800
Speaker 6: the morning and played guitar or whatever to have something

1080
01:02:09,840 --> 01:02:12,360
Speaker 6: to look at, you know, overnight, because the thing aired

1081
01:02:12,400 --> 01:02:15,440
Speaker 6: for nearly twenty four hours. It was on three and

1082
01:02:15,480 --> 01:02:18,680
Speaker 6: four in the morning. And she's the one who was

1083
01:02:18,720 --> 01:02:21,520
Speaker 6: able to organize that in such a short amount of time.

1084
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:24,760
Speaker 6: And then the story of how she became the assistant GM.

1085
01:02:24,880 --> 01:02:26,640
Speaker 6: You know, she wasn't the GM, but she was the

1086
01:02:26,680 --> 01:02:29,720
Speaker 6: assistant GM who ran the front office. And she told

1087
01:02:29,720 --> 01:02:31,760
Speaker 6: me that, you know, there was a meeting with the owners.

1088
01:02:31,840 --> 01:02:35,160
Speaker 6: This is in nineteen seventy six when the pacers are

1089
01:02:35,320 --> 01:02:40,880
Speaker 6: entering the NBA from the ABA, and again there's a

1090
01:02:40,880 --> 01:02:43,720
Speaker 6: man who kicked in three point two million dollars to

1091
01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:46,920
Speaker 6: meet the fee to enter the NBA. But they're at

1092
01:02:46,920 --> 01:02:48,800
Speaker 6: a meeting with the owners and they're talking about, well,

1093
01:02:49,440 --> 01:02:51,520
Speaker 6: who's going to run the front office. Now you know,

1094
01:02:51,560 --> 01:02:53,360
Speaker 6: Slick will be the GM. But who we got to

1095
01:02:53,400 --> 01:02:56,560
Speaker 6: run the front office, and they seem to be intimidated

1096
01:02:56,600 --> 01:03:00,120
Speaker 6: by it. And Andy said, look, guys, there's a league

1097
01:03:00,280 --> 01:03:02,480
Speaker 6: and they have a set of rules, and you just

1098
01:03:02,520 --> 01:03:06,160
Speaker 6: follow those rules and guidelines and do whatever you're supposed

1099
01:03:06,200 --> 01:03:09,000
Speaker 6: to do. It's not that hard. And somebody who wants

1100
01:03:09,040 --> 01:03:11,440
Speaker 6: you do it. And she claims that she had not

1101
01:03:11,480 --> 01:03:14,080
Speaker 6: even thought about that, and Slick said, well, she could

1102
01:03:14,080 --> 01:03:17,800
Speaker 6: do it, and lo and behold, she became the assistant

1103
01:03:17,880 --> 01:03:21,280
Speaker 6: GM of the Pacers that day in such a haphazard way,

1104
01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:25,880
Speaker 6: and she was accepted. You know, I don't think I

1105
01:03:25,920 --> 01:03:30,160
Speaker 6: don't know of any occasions where people were saying, oh,

1106
01:03:30,200 --> 01:03:32,800
Speaker 6: this is crazy to have a woman running the front office.

1107
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:35,200
Speaker 6: What's that all about. She told the story of how

1108
01:03:35,240 --> 01:03:39,120
Speaker 6: Bob Collins, the sports editor of the Star, called her

1109
01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:41,280
Speaker 6: up and went her to meet her for lunch, and

1110
01:03:41,320 --> 01:03:43,680
Speaker 6: she was worried that, oh man, he's probably gonna rip me.

1111
01:03:43,720 --> 01:03:45,560
Speaker 6: He's going to tell me that I have no business

1112
01:03:45,560 --> 01:03:49,280
Speaker 6: doing this. And in fact, when they met, Colin said, look,

1113
01:03:49,480 --> 01:03:51,760
Speaker 6: you're going to do great, and if anybody gives you

1114
01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:53,960
Speaker 6: a hard time, you send them my way. I'll take

1115
01:03:53,960 --> 01:03:56,240
Speaker 6: care of it. That kind of thing. So she got

1116
01:03:56,280 --> 01:03:58,800
Speaker 6: a lot of support and it all worked out.

1117
01:03:58,960 --> 01:03:59,160
Speaker 4: You know.

1118
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:02,640
Speaker 6: She she had that twelve person staff back in the

1119
01:04:02,680 --> 01:04:06,360
Speaker 6: late seventies when the Pacers weren't any good and kept

1120
01:04:06,360 --> 01:04:10,520
Speaker 6: that thing going. And you know, and then see what

1121
01:04:11,160 --> 01:04:13,640
Speaker 6: every game that Slick was at, she was at, you know,

1122
01:04:13,800 --> 01:04:17,240
Speaker 6: and she I other than Slick. She has attended more

1123
01:04:17,280 --> 01:04:21,000
Speaker 6: Pacer home games than anybody ever alive, because she was

1124
01:04:21,160 --> 01:04:24,720
Speaker 6: always there in whatever capacity she was serving, even it

1125
01:04:24,760 --> 01:04:25,560
Speaker 6: was just as a fan.

1126
01:04:26,320 --> 01:04:30,120
Speaker 1: Mark, when you look back in talking to players, talking

1127
01:04:30,120 --> 01:04:32,440
Speaker 1: to people that are around it, Mark Monteeth is my guest.

1128
01:04:32,440 --> 01:04:35,080
Speaker 1: We're talking about Nancy Leonard, who passes away at the

1129
01:04:35,120 --> 01:04:38,960
Speaker 1: age of ninety three. When you from the recollection, the

1130
01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:42,400
Speaker 1: interviews you've done, the people you've talked to, what was

1131
01:04:42,480 --> 01:04:48,200
Speaker 1: the relationship that Nancy Leonard had with players in that time?

1132
01:04:48,280 --> 01:04:50,160
Speaker 1: And I don't even necessarily mean those that were playing

1133
01:04:50,160 --> 01:04:52,600
Speaker 1: for Slick, but rather like as they were transitioning into

1134
01:04:52,600 --> 01:04:56,400
Speaker 1: the NBA for example, or both in that crossover, in

1135
01:04:56,480 --> 01:05:01,000
Speaker 1: terms of how players received having a female executive that

1136
01:05:01,160 --> 01:05:02,320
Speaker 1: was there and was around.

1137
01:05:03,040 --> 01:05:05,520
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think that when she was the assistant GM,

1138
01:05:05,760 --> 01:05:09,920
Speaker 6: I think they all accepted her and respected her. Because

1139
01:05:09,920 --> 01:05:12,920
Speaker 6: again she was very authoritative and very decisive.

1140
01:05:13,480 --> 01:05:15,760
Speaker 4: Darnell Hillman told me the story that when the.

1141
01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:19,440
Speaker 6: NBA, or it wasn't the NBA, CBS had an NBA

1142
01:05:19,600 --> 01:05:22,920
Speaker 6: Slam Dunk contest. You know, we know Darnell was the

1143
01:05:23,040 --> 01:05:26,360
Speaker 6: winner of the first NBA Slam Dunk contest, not put

1144
01:05:26,400 --> 01:05:30,200
Speaker 6: on by the league but by CBS Television, completely different.

1145
01:05:30,040 --> 01:05:31,360
Speaker 4: Format than what they have today.

1146
01:05:31,760 --> 01:05:34,240
Speaker 6: And Darnell tells the story they were warming up before

1147
01:05:34,280 --> 01:05:36,840
Speaker 6: practice one day and Nancy came down to the floor

1148
01:05:37,440 --> 01:05:39,959
Speaker 6: and said, look, guys, there's going to be a slam

1149
01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:42,760
Speaker 6: dunk contest on CBS. It's going to work like this,

1150
01:05:42,840 --> 01:05:46,160
Speaker 6: YadA ya YadA, and Darnell you'll represent the Pacers. It

1151
01:05:46,200 --> 01:05:48,840
Speaker 6: wasn't like, hey, you guys figured out, or let's have

1152
01:05:48,960 --> 01:05:52,080
Speaker 6: a team competition to see who wins and represents the Pacers.

1153
01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:56,400
Speaker 6: Darnell tough and she was gone. You know, she made

1154
01:05:56,400 --> 01:05:57,760
Speaker 6: that decision and no time.

1155
01:05:57,560 --> 01:05:58,640
Speaker 4: At all and went on.

1156
01:05:58,720 --> 01:06:01,800
Speaker 6: So I think the players respected that authority and they

1157
01:06:01,880 --> 01:06:05,600
Speaker 6: knew that Slick respected her and again was a little

1158
01:06:05,640 --> 01:06:08,840
Speaker 6: afraid of her. So for that reason, you know, they

1159
01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:12,960
Speaker 6: respected her as well. And then later years when you

1160
01:06:13,000 --> 01:06:15,720
Speaker 6: know Slick's a broadcaster. You know, she would be at

1161
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:18,000
Speaker 6: the golf outings and other events and she was like

1162
01:06:18,040 --> 01:06:19,640
Speaker 6: a mom. You know, I've got a picture on my

1163
01:06:19,640 --> 01:06:22,919
Speaker 6: phone of her hugging Lance Stevenson, and you know we've

1164
01:06:22,920 --> 01:06:26,600
Speaker 6: all seen pictures of her with guys like Miles Turner

1165
01:06:26,760 --> 01:06:29,560
Speaker 6: and Haliburton and all through the year. I got a

1166
01:06:29,560 --> 01:06:31,400
Speaker 6: picture of my phone of her with Darnell Hillman and

1167
01:06:31,400 --> 01:06:36,120
Speaker 6: Billy Kelder. I mean, she was that grandmotherly or motherly

1168
01:06:36,280 --> 01:06:40,640
Speaker 6: figure who everybody enjoyed being around. And again, they respected her,

1169
01:06:40,640 --> 01:06:42,919
Speaker 6: but it was in a different way because she wasn't

1170
01:06:42,960 --> 01:06:45,040
Speaker 6: their boss at that time. But she was just somebody

1171
01:06:45,080 --> 01:06:49,560
Speaker 6: who obviously liked people and cared about the franchise and

1172
01:06:49,640 --> 01:06:50,360
Speaker 6: cared about them.

1173
01:06:50,880 --> 01:06:53,240
Speaker 1: Mark one other thing before I let you go. That's

1174
01:06:53,320 --> 01:06:55,600
Speaker 1: interesting about that when you talk about the Darnell Hillman

1175
01:06:55,680 --> 01:06:58,760
Speaker 1: will represent the Pacers in the Dunk Contest, it led

1176
01:06:58,760 --> 01:07:00,479
Speaker 1: to one of the great shirts of all time because

1177
01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:02,640
Speaker 1: by the time it came around, he wasn't a Pacer, right.

1178
01:07:03,280 --> 01:07:07,919
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, the bottle Shop. Darnell had been traded late

1179
01:07:07,960 --> 01:07:12,840
Speaker 6: that season to New Jersey and so he and he

1180
01:07:12,920 --> 01:07:16,560
Speaker 6: really wasn't yet under contract with either team, I believe

1181
01:07:16,760 --> 01:07:19,720
Speaker 6: so from remembering this, right, he was. He knew he

1182
01:07:19,760 --> 01:07:21,520
Speaker 6: was going to be with New Jersey, but he hadn't

1183
01:07:21,840 --> 01:07:24,360
Speaker 6: signed this deal yet or whatever, and so he was

1184
01:07:24,440 --> 01:07:27,600
Speaker 6: kind of free. So he had played on a softball

1185
01:07:27,640 --> 01:07:30,480
Speaker 6: team in the summer sponsored by the Bottle Shop, which

1186
01:07:30,520 --> 01:07:34,080
Speaker 6: still exists today on North College around what fifty fourth.

1187
01:07:36,360 --> 01:07:36,800
Speaker 4: There you go.

1188
01:07:36,880 --> 01:07:41,440
Speaker 6: Yeah, my buddy Tom Bovas owns it now. And so

1189
01:07:41,600 --> 01:07:44,800
Speaker 6: Darnell wore a Bottle Shop shirt as his warm up

1190
01:07:44,920 --> 01:07:46,560
Speaker 6: He didn't dunk in it, but he wore it as

1191
01:07:46,600 --> 01:07:49,360
Speaker 6: his warm up shirt. And yeah, we have sold and

1192
01:07:49,440 --> 01:07:51,120
Speaker 6: you came by to buy one. I know, we have

1193
01:07:51,280 --> 01:07:54,840
Speaker 6: sold Bottle Shop shirts that are exact replicas of the

1194
01:07:54,880 --> 01:07:58,880
Speaker 6: softball jersey that they wore then. And you can go

1195
01:07:58,920 --> 01:08:03,120
Speaker 6: on YouTube and search for I guess it'd be like

1196
01:08:03,200 --> 01:08:05,960
Speaker 6: nineteen seventy seven NBA Slam Dunk or just put in

1197
01:08:06,040 --> 01:08:09,400
Speaker 6: Darnelle Hillman's name. You can see him being interviewed by

1198
01:08:09,440 --> 01:08:12,360
Speaker 6: Don Cricky after winning the Slam Dunk competition out in

1199
01:08:12,440 --> 01:08:14,520
Speaker 6: Portland in that Bottleshop shirt.

1200
01:08:14,760 --> 01:08:17,200
Speaker 4: So it's a pretty cool thing. It's awesome.

1201
01:08:17,880 --> 01:08:20,320
Speaker 6: Yeah, Ed Nancy is the one who made sure Darnell

1202
01:08:20,439 --> 01:08:23,120
Speaker 6: was representing the Pacers because nobody knew better than her.

1203
01:08:23,600 --> 01:08:24,880
Speaker 4: He was a dunker, and.

1204
01:08:24,840 --> 01:08:26,960
Speaker 1: When it comes to talking the history of the Pacers,

1205
01:08:27,080 --> 01:08:29,280
Speaker 1: there are others that may be on par but nobody

1206
01:08:29,280 --> 01:08:33,360
Speaker 1: knows more certainly than Mark Monteeth. On short notice, Mark,

1207
01:08:33,520 --> 01:08:36,559
Speaker 1: I always appreciate your willingness to come on, hop on

1208
01:08:36,880 --> 01:08:41,800
Speaker 1: and certainly shed perspectives far beyond my capability, and so

1209
01:08:41,840 --> 01:08:43,240
Speaker 1: therefore it's greatly appreciated.

1210
01:08:43,880 --> 01:08:43,960
Speaker 3: Well.

1211
01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:45,960
Speaker 6: I appreciate the opportunity, Jake, Thank you

1212
01:08:46,160 --> 01:08:48,080
Speaker 1: Mark Monteeth joining us on the program