Slick Leonard is back home following planned procedure

The Hall of Famer sounded like his himself Wednesday despite being less than 48 hours removed from surgery.

Hall of Famer Slick Leonard had a planned procedure on Monday and is feeling better after being released from the hospital the following day.

Leonard, the winningest coach in Pacers franchise history, was suffering from an Aortic aneurysm — an enlargement of the aorta, the major blood vessel that carries blood to the body.

Appearing on “The Fan Morning Show with Jeff & Big Joe” Wednesday morning, Leonard sounded like his usual jovial self and explained his situation.

“You have to just realize as your aorta runs out of your heart, it might weaken like a balloon,” he said. “If it gets out there and the dag ol’ thing bursts, there’s two ways you go. You either get a stroke, a terrible stroke, or most of the time you die.

“I was an unusual case because the dag ol’ balloon in that thing was too close to some other organs and they had to go in two ways. They went in my groin on both sides of my legs, they go up and then they had to go in on the right side of my clavicle, of my shoulder, and go down. They’re going down and up with those things and putting stints in there. It’s like replacing the artery.”

Back in 2011, Leonard — the longtime radio analyst for Pacers games — suffered a heart attack at Madison Square Garden in New York. In recent years, he has had multiple surgeries, including for a fractured left hip and later a broken wrist after another fall. Those required extensive and difficult rehab.

“I had wonderful nurses, I had wonderful doctors,” he added. “We talk about sports and this and that, but I’ll tell you, those people that do what they do, they’re saving lives. And they put themselves in harm’s way.”

The NBA schedule for this unusual season will be released on Friday. And if Slick’s healthy and able to join Mark Boyle, it’ll be their 27th season together and his 36th on Pacers broadcasts.

(You can hear me on “The Fan Morning Show with Jeff & Big Joe” every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.)