Hall of Fame

Pacers Sports & Entertainment will host Boom Baby! The Life and Times of Bobby "Slick" Leonard, a public celebration of life for Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster Bobby "Slick" Leonard on May 12 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Tickets go on sale for $5.29 each at Pacers.com/Slick on Friday, May 7, at 10 a.m., with all proceeds going to the Dropping Dimes Foundation benefitting former ABA players and personnel. Attendance will be limited to 1,500 guests due to COVID protocols, but the celebration will also be livestreamed at Pacers.com/Slick for those unable to attend. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.

"While we continue to mourn his passing and miss his always colorful presence, we look forward to offering a public farewell to one of the most impactful figures in our state's basketball history," said PS&E President Rick Fuson. "We also want to offer up one last 'Boom Baby' in Slick's honor."

Leonard, the Terre Haute native who led Indiana University to the 1953 national championship, coached the Pacers to three American Basketball Association titles and later served as the team's radio analyst, passed on April 13 at the age of 88.

Video tributes from former Pacers players and basketball dignitaries and clips from the 2014 WFYI Ted Green Films documentary "Heart of a Hoosier" will be featured. Mark Boyle, the Pacers' radio voice and Leonard's long-time broadcast partner, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

Per the family's wishes, Leonard's calling and services were private and he was interred at Southlawn Cemetery in South Bend on April 22.

"Boom Baby" was Leonard's trademark radio call punctuating a made three-point field goal by a Pacers player. In addition to coaching the Pacers to the three ABA championships, Leonard and his wife, Nancy, also played major roles in keeping the Pacers in Indianapolis after the team encountered financial difficulties following the merger into the National Basketball Association.

For more information, please visit Pacers.com/Slick.

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Pacers Sports & Entertainment Honors Bobby "Slick" Leonard with May 12 Celebration of Life

The Indiana Pacers today announced they will wear a black stripe on their uniforms for the remainder of the season, a way to pay tribute to Bobby "Slick" Leonard, who passed away on April 13.

"Slick was one of the most instrumental people in making this franchise what it is today, a legend who made all our lives better through his passion and presence," said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard. "We will miss him dearly, and this uniform stripe is just a reminder of what he has represented to the Indiana Pacers organization for more than fifty years."

The stripe will be worn on both home and away uniforms.

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Pacers to Wear Black Stripe to Honor Bobby 'Slick' Leonard

The basketball world and the state of Indiana are mourning the passing of Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster Bobby "Slick" Leonard. Leonard, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 88, was an Indiana icon who starred at Indiana University, had a successful NBA career, and then spent over 50 years with the Pacers franchise, leading the team to three ABA championships as a coach and entertaining generations on radio broadcasts.

After the news of Leonard's passing, a number of prominent names from the franchise, state, and the greater basketball community took to Twitter to share their memories of Leonard and express their condolences.

Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner and alternate governor Steve Simon:

Bally Sports Indiana play-by-play announcer Chris Denari:

Bally Sports Indiana sideline reporter Jeremiah Johnson:

Indiana University men's basketball coach Mike Woodson:

Former Pacers PA announcer Michael Grady:

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:

Watch Documentary: Bobby 'Slick' Leonard: Heart of a Hoosier is available for streaming now.

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Remembering Bobby "Slick" Leonard

Statement from Pacers Sports & Entertainment Owners Herb Simon, Steve Simon, and the Simon Family:
"Pacers fans will remember Bobby 'Slick' Leonard as the spirit of our franchise. With a charisma, intensity, and wit to match his nickname, Slick made us champions. He was our biggest fan and our most loving critic, and he personified Pacers basketball for generations of Hoosier families. Most importantly, though, Slick and Nancy are our family, and his passing leaves an unfillable void in the hearts of everyone associated with this organization. We keep the entire Leonard family in our prayers, and we recognize and honor Slick for what he meant to our state both on and off the court."

Statement from Larry Bird:
"To me, Slick was a real Hoosier, he loved the State and everyone that lives there. He was a great mentor to me and a friend that everyone should have. Slick will be greatly missed and remembered with respect and admiration forever. My family and I send our sincere condolences to Nancy and the Leonard family."

Statement from Reggie Miller:
"This one hurts Pacers Nation...So very saddened by the loss of a beloved human being in Bobby ‘Slick’ Leonard. We all know how great a Coach you were in guiding the ABA Pacers to 3 Championships, but you were a much better friend. I will cherish every single one of our conversations and pass them along to my kids. Thinking of Nancy and the Leonard Family during this time."

RELATED: Remembering Bobby "Slick" Leonard »

Bobby "Slick" Leonard:
A Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2014, Bobby "Slick" Leonard spent more than 50 years as a part of the Pacers organization, both as a championship-winning coach and a broadcaster. As Pacers’ head coach from 1968-1980, he won 529 games and three ABA championships and was later voted by a national sportswriters and broadcasters association as the ABA’s All-Time Coach.

Named one of Indiana's "50 Greatest Players" and a two-time All-American at Indiana University, Slick was captain of the Hoosiers' 1953 NCAA championship team and Big Ten Championship teams in 1953 and '54. He then served in the U.S. Army from 1954-56 before playing seven years in the NBA with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers and was named an All Star in 1963.

In addition to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, Slick is enshrined in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the Indiana Sports Writers and Broadcasters Hall of Fame and was the first person inducted into the Indiana University Sports Hall of Fame. He was also honored as a member of Indiana University's All-Century Basketball Team

Finally, Slick is one of just six individuals in Pacers history to have a banner raised in his honor. Hanging from the rafters of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the banner honors his 529 victories as coach of the Pacers and his contributions to the game.

Slick and his wife, Nancy, have five children, 12 grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.

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Statements On The Passing of Bobby “Slick” Leonard

2020 All-Star Weekend is officially underway in Chicago. It's only Friday, but it has already been a very eventful weekend for the Indianapolis contingent.

On Friday morning, Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis led Chicago Public School students in a Jr. NBA Clinic at Navy Pier as part of the fifth annual Jr. NBA Day.

Sabonis led the students in basketball drills and offered them instruction, something that hit close to home. It wasn't too long ago that the 23-year-old Sabonis was a kid himself, looking up to his father Arvydas and his teammates on the Portland Trail Blazers.

PHOTOS: Domantas Sabonis at 2020 All-Star Weekend »

"I know how much it meant to me to want to be a basketball player," Sabonis said.

"The most important thing is to see the big smiles on their faces."

Then on Friday afternoon, Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings was named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Catchings is one of four players that were named as finalists for the Class of 2020 and the only WNBA player to receive the honor this year.

Joining Catchings as finalists are Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett as well as coaches Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, Eddie Sutton, and Rudy Tomjanovich. The Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Announcement will take place on April 4 at the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta, Ga. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Class of 2020 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass. from Aug. 28-30.

It was the second significant honor for Catchings this week, as she was chosen on Monday for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, where she will be inducted on June 13. Catchings spent her entire 14-year career with the Fever, where she was a 10-time WNBA All-Star, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, the 2011 WNBA MVP and the 2012 WNBA Finals MVP.

"This far exceeds anything I ever thought," Catchings said about Friday's announcement. "It's a blessing when I think about my beginning and think about a little girl with a hearing disability and not really what it would take and where I would go – but sports becoming my avenue in my life to be able to go to different levels and branch outside of my comfort zone.

"I'm just so thankful for basketball. I'm thankful for all my teammates and fans and coaches and teachers and all the people along the way that helped me get to where I am today."

The moment was also bittersweet for Catchings because of the recent tragic passing of Bryant, whom she has known since childhood. Their fathers — Harvey Catchings and Joe Bryant — played professionally in Italy when Tamika and Kobe were young and they remained friends as they both ascended to the pinnacle of their sport. Both players spent their entire career with one franchise and won league championships and Olympic gold medals before retiring in 2016 and having their number 24 jerseys retired by their respective organizations.

Both were known as relentless competitors who left everything on the court every night they played.

"To be with this class, to be with (Kobe)...it's truly amazing," Catchings said. "When I think of us, what we both have in common is having that mentality not just on the court, but in our lives."

On Friday night, Pacers center Myles Turner tried his hand at broadcasting, working as a commentator alongside Brian Anderson and fellow NBA star Donovan Mitchell for the Rising Stars Game at the United Center.

Turner proved adept at the job, offering insight into the young stars in the NBA as well as a number of other topics.

When discussing rookie sensation Zion Williamson's recovery from knee surgery, Turner brought up Pacers All-Star Victor Oladipo's recent return from a year-long absence with a ruptured quad tendon.

"Victor's mindset is what got him through that whole process," Turner said. "He attacked it every day, he kept a positive mindset...the league is a much better league with Victor Oladipo back in it."

Turner also put in a good word for Indianapolis, which is set to host All-Star Weekend next year.

"I think people need to give Indy a shot, you can only hear so much about it," he said. "Once you're there, you're enriched in a great basketball environment."

But the highlight of the night came just before halftime, when Turner somehow predicted Luka Dončić's halfcourt shot in the closing seconds. The clip speaks for itself:

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2020 All-Star Friday: A Jr. NBA Clinic and Hall of Fame Announcement

They're all in now, their careers preserved for eternity within the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. And to think they all played for the Pacers at or near the peak of their careers.

George McGinnis' induction into the Hall earlier this month made it a clean sweep for the best frontline in franchise history, joining Mel Daniels and Roger Brown. Together, they comprised one of the few pure Hall of Fame frontlines in ABA or NBA history in the early Seventies.

"A tremendous milestone," their coach, Bob Leonard, calls it.

The scarcity of such combinations reveals the long odds of gathering two forwards and a center who wind up with basketball's greatest individual honor. Boston had a couple of legendary frontlines with Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn and Tom Sanders in the Sixties, and then Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish in the Eighties. The Minneapolis Lakers had Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelson and George Mikan in the Fifties. The New York Knicks had Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Willis Reed in the late Sixties and early Seventies.

Hall of Fame Central: Learn More About McGinnis »

Compiling such lists can be dicey. Sometimes future Hall of Famers merge for only a brief time, and sometimes one or more of them is well past his prime when it happens. There's no guarantee of chemistry, either, because great players don't like to ride in the backseat.

Daniels, McGinnis and Brown all played together in near-peak years of their careers with the Pacers, and played on two championship teams, in 1972 and '73. But while they helped bring glory to the franchise, they also served as a reminder of how difficult it is to keep elite talent together, even within the course of a season, and that doing so hardly guarantees success. Because other teams have talent, too.

Reflective of the good fortune that surrounded the Pacers in their formative seasons, the front office didn't have to make a savvy draft pick or spend a fortune in free agency to land any of the Pacers' future Hall of Famers, heretofore known as the "Naismiths" for the purposes of this article.

Brown was working in a General Motors factory in Dayton when the ABA was formed, signed a non-guaranteed contract, and revitalized his basketball career at the age of 25.

Daniels was acquired for $100,000 and a couple of players who would never play again when the Minnesota Muskies needed quick cash after the inaugural 1967-68 season, one of the greatest heists in the history of basketball swaps.

McGinnis was signed in 1971 after his sophomore season at Indiana University. The Pacers were on their way to finishing the regular season with the ABA's best record and wouldn't have been in position to draft such a marquee player under ordinary circumstances, but the ABA was constantly in survival mode  and rarely operated within the boundaries of ordinary circumstances. If a team could sign a promising player, it signed him, draft position be damned.

The Naismiths, however, started fewer games together in their three seasons as teammates than one might suspect. And when they did, the team's success wasn't as great as one might assume.

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They started together across the frontline in 70 regular season games, from 1971-72 (McGinnis' rookie season) through '73-74 (before Daniels and Brown were traded). The Pacers were 41-29 in those games. They started together in another 24 games in the playoffs, in which the Pacers finished 13-11. All three started together in another 24 games when Brown was moved to guard and McGinnis and Daniels started on the frontline, usually with Bob Netolicky. On those occasions, the Pacers were 9-5 in regular season games and 6-4 in the playoffs.

In other words, they didn't dominate as much as you probably were guessing.

The trio came together in the 1971-72 season, when McGinnis, having just turned 21, joined the Pacers as a rookie. By then, Brown already was 29 years old, past his considerable prime because of all those games played on playground asphalt in New York and Cincinnati, and his poor health habits. Daniels was 27, a veteran of his two league MVP seasons, with only three more productive seasons ahead of him.

They started together for the first time in the 13th game of the season. McGinnis was proving to be a quick study of the pro game, and showing constant improvement. He scored 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in 36 minutes off the bench in the 11th game, on Nov. 5, earning a starting assignment for the following night's game.

"I can't keep him out," Leonard said. "George makes things happen. Now it's a matter of him having poise and doing things the right way and the easy way.

"I want to see him become an accomplished player. It's up to him. He can be a great one."

McGinnis finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds the following night against Utah, but Daniels sat out with a strep throat and the Pacers lost by one point in overtime.

The planets finally aligned on Nov. 9, at Pittsburgh. It would be nice to report it as a turning point for the season, if not for the franchise, but it wasn't. The Pacers, struggling to get healthy and find chemistry within a roster too deep for its own good, lost their fourth straight game, 133-123. Offense wasn't a problem, though. McGinnis finished with 26 points and 25 rebounds (and 11 turnovers). Daniels had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Brown had 19 points and seven rebounds. The backcourt was equally potent. Rick Mount scored 27 points in 33 minutes and Freddie Lewis had 23.

McGinnis, Brown and Daniels started for five consecutive games, but the Pacers won just two of them. A primary "problem" was Netolicky, who had been all ABA All-Star in all four of the league's seasons prior to that one. Removing him from the starting lineup was awkward, especially for him. He scored 30 points off the bench in 22 minutes in the second game of that five-game stretch, a blowout victory over Pittsburgh, and had 17 points and 14 rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench in the fifth one, a loss at Utah.

Leonard then returned Netolicky to the starting lineup, and brought McGinnis off the bench again. McGinnis sprained an ankle shortly after that, missing four games, returned to play off the bench again, then reinjured the ankle, was put in a cast and missed six more games. He later returned to the starting lineup, but with Netolicky playing the other forward and Brown starting at guard.

The Pacers ran off six consecutive victories with that lineup, which provided the team's best combination of talent and experience. Think of it: three future Hall of Famers and a four-time All-Star in Netolicky, not to mention another multi All-Star in Lewis, who in a later season with another team would be named the All-Star game's MVP.

Brown, however, preferred to play forward, and tended to match up better defensively with other small forwards. Leonard spent the rest of that season matching up to opponents, juggling the lineup frequently, with various combinations. He did go back to the Naismith frontline later in the season, but Brown injured his hand after three games and missed the next three games.

Leonard utilized the combination along the frontline just once in the final 23 games, in a homecourt win over Virginia, then moved Brown back to guard. He didn't put the trio together again until the final playoff round against New York, where matchups favored it.

The Pacers won the series in six games, but not because of their future Naismiths. Lewis, the point guard and captain, was voted MVP of the finals, and combo guard Billy Keller was instrumental as well. Truth be told, the Nets' starting frontline of Rick Barry, Tom Washington and Billy Paultz outscored the Pacers' frontline by two points over the six games. The Pacers' trio came through in the series-clinching game in New York, though. Brown outscored Barry, 32-23, Daniels finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds and McGinnis with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Netolicky and Mount, unhappy with their lack of playing time, asked for and were granted trades after the season, clearing up roster congestion and removing one of the obstacles to playing the Naismiths together. Brown, McGinnis and Daniels started 32 of the first 36 games in the 1972-73 season, but Brown went down with a hand injury for a few games and didn't start again the rest of the season. Darnell Hillman, like McGinnis a second-year forward, took his place in most of the games.

Brown was recalled to the starting lineup in Game 4 of the first-round playoff series with Denver, after the Nuggets had won Game 3 to pull within 2-1. The Pacers won, although Brown scored just nine points. They won the following game as well to clinch the series. Daniels finished with 29 points and 23 rebounds, McGinnis with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Brown with 10 points and five rebounds.

Brown continued to start in the first four games of the second-round series with Utah, but had to sit out Game 5 with an injury and came off the bench in the Game 6 closeout victory.

The Naismiths then started the first three games of the final series with Kentucky, but the Pacers fell behind 2-1 after losing Game 3 on their homecourt. Brown played off the bench the rest of the way, and was merely a supporting player. Leonard talked of returning him to the starting lineup for Game 7 in Louisville, after the Pacers had failed to win the championship on their home court, but didn't. That might have been because Brown skipped practice the day before the game and didn't arrive at the team hotel until the morning of the game, rather than ride the team bus, although Leonard denied that after the game. Hillman had played too well to be taken out of the starting lineup, he said.

Series MVP McGinnis dominated the Game 7 victory with 27 points, 13 in the final eight minutes of the third quarter, leading the Pacers to their third and final ABA title. Daniels, limited to 18 minutes by foul trouble, finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Brown, still a clutch player, scored 10 points off the bench, hitting two crucial jumpers and scoring six points in the final quarter.

By then, it was obvious McGinnis was the team's centerpiece, while Brown and Daniels – especially Brown – were fading. There was talk Brown might retire after the season, but he didn't. The Naismith's last season together, in 1973-74, brought mixed results in the 30 regular season games they started. The first one came in the 20th game, a 118-114 win over Kentucky, and served as an omen. McGinnis was magnificent with 37 points and 20 rebounds, but Daniels had just three points and four rebounds in 18 minutes and Brown went scoreless in his 18 minutes. They were outscored by Kentucky's starting frontline – which included future Hall of Famers Artis Gilmore and Dan Issel – 64-40.

They occasionally recaptured their magic, however. The Nets, now with Julius Erving instead of Barry at forward, seemed to bring the best out of them. In a March victory in New York, with Leonard back home with the flu, McGinnis had 29 points and 17 rebounds, Daniels 23 points and 12 rebounds and Brown 18 points and eight rebounds. In a later game in New York, Daniels had 30 points and 17 rebounds, McGinnis 25 points and 24 rebounds and Brown 25 points and five rebounds. Julius Erving, though, had 39 points for New York in its double-overtime victory. In an even later game, in Indianapolis, a Pacers victory, McGinnis had 34 points and 25 rebounds, Brown had 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Daniels had 20 points and 13 rebounds – enough to overcome Erving's 41 points.

The Naismith's started throughout the opening-round, seven-game series victory over San Antonio, and outscored the Spurs' frontline 58-21 in the decisive game. They started the first two games of the second round against Utah, too, but Brown sprained his ankle in the third quarter of Game 2 and missed the next game. The Pacers fell behind 3-0, then Lewis scored 40 points in Game 4 to throw a lifeline. They won the next two games, too. McGinnis and Daniels both finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds in Game 5, and McGinnis added 10 assists to the mix. Then, the McGinnis-Daniels-Hillman frontline outrebounded the Stars 60-45 and Brown scored 15 points off the bench in the Game 6 victory.

The last hurrah came in Game 7, and it was anti-climactic. The Stars won easily, 109-87. Brown came off the bench to lead the scoring with 21 points, hitting 6-of-9 field goals, playing mostly at guard, but it wasn't enough.

What does it all mean? It's difficult to get a combination of great players on one team without some serious luck. It's equally difficult to get them at the right time and to keep them together for long. They offer no guarantees, either.

But they can help you win a championship or two. And if they happen to reconvene in the Hall of Fame? They become even more legendary.

Have a question for Mark? Want it to be on Pacers.com? Email him at askmontieth@gmail.com and you could be featured in his next mailbag.

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.

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A Closer Look at the Pacers' Hall-of-Fame Frontline

From the moment he first learned the news in March, George McGinnis has been thinking about how he could fit all of the people he had to thank into his Hall of Fame acceptance speech.

After all, the list is long. It starts, as it often does, with his parents, who came to Indianapolis in search of a better life.

"That turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me," McGinnis said of his parents' move to Indiana. "Because it's hard growing up in Indiana and not falling in love with the game of basketball."

The bond with the sport was formed watching Oscar Robertson's Crispus Attucks team win a state title after an undefeated season. From that moment on, McGinnis could almost always be found on a court, working on what became his trademarked one-handed jumpshot.

McGinnis Hall of Fame Central: Learn More About McGinnis' Enshrinement »

At the high school level, McGinnis was as feared an opponent as there was. But his father, Burnie, rarely got to see him play, since he was working long hours to help keep food on the table.

Tragically, McGinnis' father died in a construction accident, but McGinnis warmly recalled the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Game that his father got to see nine days before his passing. In the game, McGinnis scored 53 points and pulled down 30 rebounds.

"He told me he how proud he was of me, one of the few times he ever told me that, and that was one of the best feelings I ever had," McGinnis recalled of the conversation with his father after the game.

During his speech on Friday night at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, McGinnis continued to go through the list of those he was thankful for. On that list was of course Bobby "Slick" Leonard, McGinnis' coach when he first joined the Pacers, a mentor, and still a friend, joining McGinnis on stage during the enshrinement ceremony.

"Like my real father, Slick, you taught all of us to be tough, but you also taught us to have compassion," McGinnis said to Leonard during his speech.

McGinnis also thanked some of his teammates who have since passed away, such as Mel Daniels and Roger Brown — the cornerstones of Indiana's early 1970s dynasty.

After McGinnis' playing days were over, he stayed in Indianapolis, and remained present at basketball games. For a long time, McGinnis and fellow Hall-of-Famer Mel Daniels operated as older relatives to young Pacers players, imparting the pride of the organization to the next batch of Pacers.

Perhaps no other player in team history took their lessons more to heart than Reggie Miller, who was on stage alongside McGinnis during his enshrinement speech. McGinnis recalled to the audience taking immense pride at the hustle and passion that Miller played the game with.

"You've done more for the Pacers organization than any player that's ever played in that uniform." McGinnis told Miller. "And I can't tell you how honored I am to have you standing here tonight."

But if McGinnis and company were the cornerstones of the Pacers, it was clear that McGinnis' wife, Linda, is the cornerstone of McGinnis' life. McGinnis recalled meeting his wife as far back as kindergarten.

"I can't tell you how much I love you and I appreciate you every day," said McGinnis.

Being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is the ultimate individual achievement. After all, it's not teams that get in, it's players and coaches.

But from McGinnis' speech on Friday night, it was clear he didn't want to join basketball immortality on his own, he wanted to bring every single person who helped him along his legendary path. Every coach at every level. Every teammate. Every fan.

Wisely, McGinnis saved the one last "thank you" of his speech for the thing that made his success possible.

"Thank you basketball," he said with a smile, and walked off the stage to applause.

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At Hall of Fame Enshrinement, McGinnis Thankful for Friends and Family

Talk to anyone who knows George McGinnis and they'll tell you the same thing: he's as nice a guy as you're ever going to meet. He's soft-spoken and preternaturally polite, true to his nature and the habits his parents, Burnie and Willie, instilled.

That's not all that unusual, really. Most great athletes tend to be accommodating in their later years, after the cheering stops and the spotlight dims. I can tell you from personal experience, however, that McGinnis was the same way when he was on top of the basketball world, although I had to stalk him to find out.

McGinnis was as great a sports figure as the state of Indiana had ever produced in the mid-Seventies. He had been the most physically dominant high school player anyone had seen while leading Washington to an undefeated season and the state championship in 1969. He had excelled at Indiana University in his one varsity season there, in 1970-71, while leading the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding. He had starred on the Pacers' championship teams in 1972 and '73, earning Most Valuable Player honors in the finals in '73, when he led a Game 7 victory over Kentucky in Louisville. And then in 1974-75 he had a season yet to be surpassed by any Pacer while leading a young, rebuilding team to the finals and sharing league MVP honors with Julius Erving.

He was a basketball player ahead of his time, predating the likes of Karl Malone and LeBron James. He was a muscular, agile forward who could grab a rebound and take it the length of the floor for a dunk, or grab an offensive rebound in traffic and score on put-backs. He was a decent perimeter shooter, with that funky one-handed shot. He was a good passer, too, although he wasn't expected to let go of the ball too often.

How good was he? His stats tell stories that seem almost fictional today.

Early in his second ABA season, on Nov. 28, 1972, he scored a franchise-record 58 points in an overtime win at Dallas. Twenty-one of his points came in the third quarter, and just two in the extra session. He also had 16 rebounds and eight steals.

The following season, on Jan. 12, 1974, he grabbed a club-record 37 rebounds in a victory over Carolina in Indianapolis, and, oh by the way, had 52 points as well.

That game was the third in three nights for the Pacers. They played the following night as well, in San Diego. They lost that one, 141-130, but McGinnis - despite playing four nights in a row and having traveled from Indianapolis to New York to Indianapolis to San Diego - finished with 36 points and 14 rebounds in 47 minutes.

A year later, during his MVP season, he had five triple-doubles in the first two rounds of the playoffs, including an outlandish outburst against San Antonio with 51 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.

The following season, after he had jumped to Philadelphia in the NBA, a move that few people in Indianapolis begrudged because of the Pacers' inability to come close to matching the 76ers' salary offer, I was the sports editor of the Indiana Daily Student. I came up with the idea of a series of feature articles on former IU athletes who were playing or had played professionally, and called them Pro-files. Clever, eh?

I assigned myself a story on McGinnis and arranged to drive to Chicago when the Sixers were playing the Bulls at the old Chicago Stadium, on Feb. 10, 1976. An IDS colleague, John Whisler, went with me to do a story on John Laskowski, who was playing for the Bulls. I found out the hotel where the Sixers were staying, and waited for McGinnis in the lobby on the afternoon of the game. I introduced myself to him as the players headed to the bus for the ride to the stadium, but he didn't have time to talk then. "Catch me over at the stadium before the game," he said. Politely.

After arriving at the stadium, I went to the 76ers' locker room. He was busy with other interviews and conversations, however. "Catch me after the game," he said. Politely.

I returned to the locker room after the game, in which McGinnis scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead a one-point Sixers victory, but by the time the beat reporters had finished talking with him, the team was ready to leave. "Catch me back at the hotel," he said. Politely.

Teams flew commercial in those days and stayed overnight in the cities in which they played their road games, rather than flying out after the game as they do now. So, back at the hotel, I found McGinnis holding court in the lounge. I sat nearby, nervously, while he talked with friends – most of whom were cousins who lived in Chicago – and then finally made my final approach.

Leaning sideways while those around him talked among themselves, he answered all the questions a college reporter could conjure up. Politely. I would no doubt cringe today if I read the story I wrote from that conversation, but at the time it felt like a personal victory. I believe I basically confirmed he was a down-to-earth guy who hadn't let fame go to his head. Not exactly ground-breaking stuff, but at least it was an accurate depiction.

McGinnis admittedly became a little embittered after he was held largely responsible for the Sixers' loss to Portland in the 1977 NBA Finals, and then was traded to Denver. He suffered a career-altering injury there, when he stepped on Buffalo guard Randy Smith's foot while heading to the basket for a breakaway layup, and was never the same.

He finished his career with the Pacers, a shell of his former self, and was released in training camp before the 1982-83 season. It took him awhile to get over that, but he did. After a sabbatical in Denver, he returned home and took advantage of various opportunities afforded to him because of the good reputation he had established. Eventually, he built a new career in the business world, one that continues to prosper.

I've talked with him many times since his return to Indianapolis, usually for articles, podcasts and the like. Most recently, I went to his luxurious home in the Geist area to help him with his induction speech and to interview him for stories on this website. He hasn't changed. On my first visit, he and his wife of 40 years, Linda - his childhood sweetheart - served lasagna. I managed to knock over a half-filled glass of water on the dining room table.

"Don't worry about that, Mark," he said, politely, getting up to grab a dish cloth. "I'll get it. That's why we have this table cloth."

The point is, neither fame nor fortune has changed the kid who grew up in a $7,000 home in the Haughville neighborhood on Indy's west side. And now that he's ready for basketball's ultimate individual honor, the theme of his story is clear.