BY CONSIDERABLE CONTRAST to his reputation here locally as a college player, which always bordered somewhere between villain and bad guy, Eric Leckner is keeping a low profile as a member of the Utah Jazz professional basketball club.
As a 6-foot-11 center at the University of Wyo ming from 1985-88, Leckner had a habit of annually terrorizing the college fans in Salt Lake City and Provo by making more than 60 percent of his shots (61.2 percent), registering double-figure rebounds, and helping Wyoming to more than its share of wins.During the Leckner/Fennis Dembo Era, Wyoming was a dirty word around here. BYU fans, especially, felt the Cowboys and everything about them were nothing short of despicable.
When Leckner rode out of Laramie to become a pro and was drafted by - what's this? - the Utah Jazz, some observers thought that might not be real healthy, given his past.
But in the year and a half since, Leckner has emerged as a respected member of the community, a homeowner even, and, as a member in good sitting of the Jazz, he is spending much of his time where they always wished he'd be in the Marriott Center or the Huntsman Center: On the bench.
Of all the Jazz players, his minutes-per-game average - it's 10.1 - is third to the last, ahead only of Eric Johnson and Ray Brown, and they're rookies.
On these two subjects - his ironic transplantation to The Place That Once Hated Him and his considerable bench time - Leckner has this to say, in order:
"It appears everyone has buried the hatchet."
And, "I don't mind. I am playing behind the prototype power forward in the NBA."
If somebody's got to back up Karl Malone, Leckner's glad it's him.
"I'm young, I'm learning something every day, I'm developing," he says. "Everybody on this team helps me. For me, this is a great opportunity."
Then he adds a postscript to bring a smile to the face of your average Marriott Center season ticket holder with a long memory:
"I'm still the punk kid on this team."
Leckner serves as a symmetric counter to Malone.
He has no nickname. He has no Mercedes Benz with tinted glass and personalized plates. He has no exotic housepets. He has no visible downtown address. He did not appear in a movie in the offseason.
Leckner lives in a home he had built in the southeastern Salt Lake Valley suburbs. He drives a 4X4 van, has a dog, and spends most of his spare time at the gym, seeing about becoming the next Mailman.
He has turned the NBA into a 12 month a year job.
"Some guys have the talent to take the summers off," says Leckner. "So far that's not me."
Living in Salt Lake year-round helps facilitate that year-round approach, but it's not the chief reason Leckner, who grew up in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and then lived in Laramie, Wyo., settled here.
"I feel like Salt Lake is a happy medium," he says. "I like it here."
Leckner, for certain, hasn't been burned out in his first two seasons as a pro. Malone's minutes rank among the highest in the league. Only Rodney McCray of the Sacramento Kings, Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers and Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers have played more minutes this season.
"It makes me feel like, when I go into a game, that I have to make something happen real fast," says Leckner. Offensively, he often does. His eight points in eight minutes against the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night was typical Leckner, comparable to his nine points in 15 minutes two nights previous against the Kings.
Averaged over 48 minutes, Leckner's 4.4 per-game scoring average translates to 20.9, and his 2.6 rebounding average translates to 12.5.
Like all of Coach Jerry Sloan's players/disciples, Leckner is quick to downplay any offensive accomplishments and talk about his defensive weaknesses and room for improvement.
"That's what I need to develop in this league," he says. "Defense makes things happen."
During all this player development, another development has come about in the Salt Palace. Leckner has become, as is the case with many conquering bench heroes, a crowd favorite. His entrance into a game is well received. He is applauded enthusiastically.
Proof enough that the hatchet has indeed been buried. Leckner is no longer the enemy. He isn't the problem any more, he's the solution.