This Sunday (October 29th, 2023) perennial ABA Indiana Pacer fan favorite Bob Netolicky is coming back to Irvington. At 5:00 p.m. inside the Irving Theatre, as part of Kevin Friedly’s Firehouse Irvington podcast, Q-95’s Jay Baker, Bob Netolicky, and I will gather in the Irving for a fun and informal stroll down memory lane. The public is invited to join us, free of charge. Doors open at 4:30. Neto, as Pacer fans know him, is renowned in the history of professional basketball as one of the most unconventional players to ever grace the hardwood. But don’t call Neto a “flake.” Bob’s off-center way of looking at life hides an analytical mind that is sharp as a tack.
I’ve known Neto for almost three decades. Together we almost single-handedly ran the ABA 30th anniversary reunion on August 23, 1997, at the Hoosier Dome and then the public meet-and-greet for the 50th anniversary reunion at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 6-7, 2018. Neto, who moved to Austin, Texas a few years ago, visited the Irving Theatre a few years ago with former Pacers executive and ABA President Dick Tinkham and ABA Pacers cub reporter Robin Miller, both of whom have since passed on. That event, emceed by the great Dave “The King” Wilson drew a large crowd whose laughter may still be echoing through the rafters at the Irving to this day.
Netolicky, a 6’9” power forward/center, is one of the few players to play all 9 seasons in the now–defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. Netolicky was a four-time ABA All-Star and two-time ABA Champion. Neto could rebound, defend, and shoot the ball as well as anyone in professional basketball, ending his ABA career with 9,876 career points and 5,518 career rebounds. Besides the Pacers, Netolicky briefly played for the Dallas Chaparrals / San Antonio Spurs. Neto is the only player in pro basketball history to start at center for the first game ever by two pro franchises (the Pacers in 1967 and the Spurs in 1973).
Neto played his prep years at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where his father was a surgeon, and went on to become an All-American at Drake University. Netolicky was drafted by the NBA San Diego Rockets as the 18th pick in the 1967 NBA draft, one selection behind Phil Jackson by the New York Knicks and nine spots behind future Pacers legend Mel Daniels. Bob and Mel were lifelong friends, almost like brothers and Bob’s relationship with Pacers’ coach Bobby “Slick” Leonard was almost a father-son bond, even though Slick once nearly fish-hooked Neto with a hockey stick at Market Square Arena. These will be among the topics discussed this Sunday.
Netolicky famously negotiated a Chevrolet Corvette into his initial Pacers signing bonus and is one of the few professional basketball players to play for both teams in the same game. On November 14, 1973, Neto was playing for the Spurs when they lost at home to the Indiana Pacers on a last-second shot. The Spurs protested the loss; the ABA Commissioner disallowed the Pacers’ last-second basket and the remaining 30 seconds of the game was ordered replayed preceding the next Pacers–at–Spurs game, on December 2, 1973. By then, Neto had been traded back to Indiana. He played the final 30 seconds of regulation for the Pacers, plus the subsequent overtime. The Pacers lost 95-90.
During his playing days, Netolicky’s mod lifestyle, nightclub ownership (Neto’s in the Meadows), and his exotic pet ownership an ocelot (a medium-sized spotted wild cat native to the southwestern U.S., Mexico, Central and South America) led more than one sportswriter to dub him the “Broadway Joe Namath of the ABA.” Neto was a “hard card” attendee of the Indy 500 for half a century who sponsored numerous race cars and operated a car dealership in Knightstown. We’ll talk about these subjects (and many more) this Sunday at 5:00 p.m. in the Irving Theatre.
Regular readers will recognize what a fan of anniversaries this writer is. The 1975-76 season was the final season for the ABA. The league merged into the NBA after that season. Neto, who was without a doubt everybody’s favorite teammate, retired with ABA career averages of 16.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 49.4% shooting in 618 career ABA games. Although Neto joined the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers for a brief preseason stint before retiring, his career ended with his last game on October 29, 1975: 48 years to the day of this planned podcast. Join us and let’s have some fun.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
