Why is number 529 retired by the Indiana Pacers?

The Indiana Pacers retired 529 as a nod to a historically great head coach

As one of the ABA teams that came over in the merger with the NBA, the Indiana Pacers have a lot of history. Most of it is positive, and winning has been a pretty persistent thread woven through the quilt of the team’s story.

The winning mentality needs to be constantly groomed and relies on the daily guiding principles of those leading the organization. Kevin Pritchard and Co. have done a great job carrying on the culture of competition to the new era, but each era is built on top of the strong foundation of winning built in the early days of the Pacers existence as a franchise.

The Pacers have a responsibility to answer to their own history and they can thank Bobby “Slick” Leonard for that.

The “529” that sits in the rafters of Bankers Life Fieldhouse is a reminder each and every night of that history of competition.

That 529 is derived from Leonard’s time as coach of the team. Coaching nearly 1,000 games (985) over 12 years for Indiana, Leonard won 529 of them.

He took over the team in their second year of existence. After the team started the season 2-7, he replaced Larry Staverman and the Pacers made the ABA Finals that season, an incredible turnaround largely due to Leonard’s leadership and coaching abilities.

In his first full year leading the team, the Pacers won the ABA Finals. They would miss on the Finals the following year, but win back-to-back titles the next two seasons. They made the playoffs for seven straight years during Leonard’s tenure with the team.

Leonard championed the most successful ABA team in history.

While he and the Pacers would miss out on the Finals for the closing four years of his coaching career, we must remember that the team literally would not exist in Indiana today if it weren’t for he and his wife’s efforts to keep the team in Indiana by way of a telethon.

The team was struggling financially, and the NBA required ABA teams joining the league to pay a large sum of cash to be in the league. Out of cash, the team needed to sell a certain number of season tickets to have enough operating funds to stay. The community rallied and deserves credit for getting it done, but Leonard and his wife deserve credit for the idea, too.

It took people at the top who were committed to keeping the team in Indiana. Slick Leonard was.

Those early years in the NBA were tough for Indiana in many ways. Financial struggles were existent prior to the NBA fees, the team sold some of its star players in the final ABA season to stay afloat, limiting the talent Leonard had to work with.

Leonard led the team into uncharted waters joining the NBA and provided stability in the rough times when their talent was depleted.

Why is 529 retired by the Indiana Pacers?

529 is retired by the Indiana Pacers as a nod to the franchise-record 529 games that Slick Leonard led the team to as head coach. A three-time ABA Champion, he is the successful foundation of which the Pacers franchise sits on.

The team would not exist in Indiana without him, and Hoosiers have him to thank for NBA basketball.