NEW PALESTINE — One unannounced surprise visit deserved another.
When New Palestine’s Matt Hayden, and his mother Lori, drove to Springfield, Mass., for Bobby “Slick” Leonard’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, it was one friend being there for another’s momentous occasion.
Slick, and his wife, Nancy Leonard, had done the same for Matt a few years earlier.
Hayden got to know the Indiana basketball legend, who passed away at the age of 88, when he began working for the Indiana Pacers in 2000. Leonard died in his sleep Tuesday morning. He had been struggling with a number of ailments, according to a statement from his family.
Hayden began with the NBA organization as a 14-year ball boy and is now one of the head locker room attendants.
Their friendship was inevitable. They were like-minded with a shared love of basketball and the Indiana Pacers.
“I think we both had/have a deep passion for the organization,” Hayden said. “I think that’s why we hit it off so well. It’s also Slick’s warming personality and his big heart. I will never fill his shoes, but I feel I have a big heart, too. It’s helped me, as a person, seeing someone else that has a big heart.”
The legendary Pacers coach — who won 529 games, three ABA titles, and was an All-American and national champion at Indiana University — and the then-teenager from New Palestine met during Hayden’s first day working for their beloved franchise.
Hayden recalls Leonard coming up to him before his first game.
“I remember walking into the fieldhouse (for the first time) and I was nervous. It was my first game,” Hayden recalled. “I remember him coming up to me. Obviously, he knew who the rookies were. He came up behind me and put his arm around me and said, ‘You’re going to be OK. I know you’re going to make it.”
Those words meant a lot to Matt and it started a long friendship.
Hayden had sent Slick and Nancy an invitation to his college (IUPUI) graduation party in 2010. Matt said at a game he had asked Slick if he’d received the invitation, “All he said was, ‘yea.’”
It was quite a surprise when Leonard and his wife walked in to his home to join in the celebration.
“I had sent them an invitation, but I had no idea they were coming,” Matt said. “He said he got the invitation but never specified they were coming.
“I was shocked and surprised. I was happy to have that big surprise and that everybody had a chance to catch up with him and enjoy his stories. I was very, very happy and thankful.”
Leonard pulled up a chair and started telling stories. The one Matt recalls most vividly is when Slick was talking about a game he was coaching against the Kentucky Colonels that wasn’t going the Pacers way.
Leonard had noticed there was a ball rack on the side of the court. Trying to get ejected from the game, he grabbed the rack and tossed it across the middle of the floor.
“I guess you could say Bob Knight is not the only person to throw something across the basketball court in the state of Indiana,” Hayden shared. “He was telling everyone that story and people at the party about fell out of their chairs laughing so hard.”
In 2014, the Haydens decided they were going to make their own surprise visit and take a trip to Springfield. Matt said the Leonards were just as surprised and just as pleased to see them at the event honoring the long-time Pacers coach and Indiana basketball icon.
“We got to reminisce with him, take pictures and hang out before the induction ceremony. Mom and I just decided to go on our own and it surprised them,” Hayden said. “They were surprised we were there. They were thrilled. They had no idea we were coming.”
Matt said Leonard was both a friend and mentor. Starting from his encouraging words at their first meeting, Hayden said Leonard always had great words of advice.
“We would talk every night before a ballgame,” Matt said. “We would talk about how he wanted me to be a leader, not only in my job, but in life and be a role model in my community. He knew how involved I was here in New Pal. He told me to be a great leader and be a great role model for the kids that follow me.”
Hayden is a long-time fixture at New Palestine sporting events, including doing some of his own mentoring as an assistant coach for numerous school teams. Currently, he is an assistant with the Dragons softball program.
Whether it for his helping save the Pacers through a telethon in 1977, his success as a player and coach or his heavily Hoosier-accented delivery on the airwaves as a broadcaster, Leonard was loved by those that shared Indiana as their home state.
Hayden knows first-hand why it was easy for Hoosiers to love Slick. The coach, likewise, loved Indiana.
“I think we all fell in love with him because everything he did he did it with a championship attitude, a big heart and for his love of Indiana,” Hayden said. “He loved the state of Indiana, he would give the state his shirt off his back and he would do that for you and I, as well.”
Unfortunately due to COVID-19, Hayden said it had been over a year since he had seen his long-time friend. He said they last spoke before the March 10, 2020 Pacers game against the Boston Celtics. It was the next day that the world changed.
He is going to miss his friend, but cherish a lot of great memories.
“It’s been a tough 48 hours,” Hayden said Wednesday. “Unfortunately, because of COVID, I haven’t seen him. So, that makes it even harder not getting to see him at all.
“His (friendship and mentorship) means the world to me. Even though he is gone. He’s still part of me and always will be. It’s sad that he’s gone, but I know he is in a better place. He’s not suffering which I know he would not want and I know it was killing him not to be able to be at the games.
“I’m shocked with the opportunities I’ve had the past 21 years (with the Pacers) and how fortunate I am to meet the people I’ve met,” Hayden added. “Slick has made me a better person, all around.”
