Bob Leonard

Basketball Digest, Summer, 2000 by Chuck O'Donnell

The legendary coach relied on an hobbling veteran to lead Indiana to a Game 7 victory and the '73 ABA title

IT'S GAME 7 OF THE 1973 ABA Finals. We're in the fight of our lives with the Kentucky Colonels. Our starting center is in foul trouble. And I'm looking down the bench at all the faces in Indiana Pacers uniforms.

I'm looking for someone to come into the most important game of the season and guard a talented and powerful young center named Artis Gilmore.

When you're a coach, you don't expect to find that kind of player just sitting there at your beckon call. Unless you're the Boston Celtics during their glory years, you're not going to have that kind of depth. We were lucky to have one great center, Mel Daniels, who had done a good job against Gilmore in the series.

But the refs had just slapped Daniels with another foul, and it was time for him to come to the bench. I knew this game, the series, our season, had come to a crossroads and could very well rise or fall with my next move.

I barked something at the refs, checked out the scoreboard at Freedom Hall, and turned to the bench, looking for an answer.

That's when I saw Gus Johnson's face--and I knew I had it.

"Get in there, Gus," I yelled. He pulled off his sweats and limped on the court.

I had just sent into the game a 35-year-old veteran who had been cut by the Phoenix Suns before the season. I had just sent in a player barely functioning on knees that had undergone five or six operations. I had just sent in a 6'6" forward to guard a 7-foot behemoth. I had just taken one of the biggest gambles of my coaching career, but I knew what kind of heart Gus had. I knew he could do it.

I actually drafted Gus back in 1963 while I was running the Baltimore Bullets. Gus' college coach, Joe Cipriano, and I went way back, having played against each other in the 1953 NCAA Final Four, when I played for Indiana and Joe played for Washington.

One day in 1963, out of the blue I called Joe, who was coaching in Idaho. I had seen Gus' name on the nation's rebounding leaders list, but back in those days, not a lot of money was invested in scouting college guys and I didn't get out to see many players--especially if they played in Idaho. So I called Joe for a scouting report on Gus.

"Can this Gus Johnson play?" I asked Joe.

"Hey, you got to be kidding me," Joe said. "I guarantee you this guy can play. You won't be sorry if you draft him. I guarantee it."

So based on Joe's recommendation, I took Gus with our second-round pick, the 10th pick overall. Outside of Nate Thurmond, he was the best player drafted that year.

He was all that Joe had said he would be--and then some. I gave him plenty of minutes right from the start, and he ate them up. He made the NBA's All-Rookie team, averaging more than 17 points per game. Gus was tenacious defensively; even in a blowout victory he wouldn't let the other team have an inch of space. And he was a warrior under the boards, especially for a guy who was often battling players three or four inches taller than he was. Gus averaged more than 13 boards per game as a rookie.

Anything Gus may have lacked in height, he made up for with a strong work ethic. He kept himself in good shape and often played through injuries. And he could touch the top of the backboard with a two-step running start.

I was fired by Baltimore after his rookie season, but I kept an eye on Gus from afar as he continued to develop his game. Over the years, the All-Star Game appearances mounted as his game became more refined. He played nine years in Baltimore before catching on with Phoenix in 1972. After 21 games, though, the Suns felt Gus had run out of steam and that his knees wouldn't allow him to play at the professional level. They released him.

It seemed as though a Hall of Fame career had come to a close. However, I needed some help off the bench, so I gave Gus a call.

Gus' veteran leadership was a real key, considering we had some young players on the Pacers. George McGinnis was just budding into one of the greatest power forwards the game has ever seen. He averaged almost 28 points during the regular season and set the Pacers' all-time single-game scoring mark with 58 points on November 28 against the Dallas Chaparrals. Then there was Roger Brown, who in today's market would have been a $10-million-a-year small forward. I had four super guards in starters Donnie Freeman and Freddie Lewis and backups Billy Keller and Don Buse.

With Gus playing a supporting role, we wrapped up a strong regular season, which included a 10-game win streak; topped Larry Brown's Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs; got past Bill Sharman's Utah Stars in the semis; and rolled into the "I-65 Series" poised to win our second straight ABA title.

Kentucky had other ideas. The Colonels front-court was devastating, with Gilmore and Dan Issel leading the way. Throw in guard Louie Dampier, the ABA's all-time leading scorer, and you can see what kind of team they had.

It was a tough final series: We won Games 1, 4, and 5; Kentucky won Games 2, 3, and 6. We faced a daunting task going into Game 7: winning for the second time in the series in Louisville.