Slick Watts

Last updated

Slick Watts
Personal information
Born (1951-07-22) July 22, 1951 (age 73)
Rolling Fork, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolHenry Weather
(Rolling Fork, Mississippi)
College
NBA draft 1973: undrafted
Playing career1973–1979
Position Point guard
Number13, 14, 00
Career history
1973–1978 Seattle SuperSonics
1978 New Orleans Jazz
1978–1979 Houston Rockets
1980 Anchorage Northern Knights
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Stats at Basketball Reference   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Donald Earl "Slick" Watts (born July 22, 1951) is an American former basketball player [1] who was the first NBA player to lead the league in both assists and steals, in 1976. [2]

Contents

College

"Slick" Watts originally attended Grand View Junior College but transferred to Xavier University of Louisiana in 1970, where he played college basketball for three years under coach Bob Hopkins, and alongside his teammate, future ABA and NBA star Bruce Seals. [3]

For the 1972 season, Watts and Seals led the Gold Rush to its first NAIA District 30 Men's Basketball championship defeating Nicholls State University 85–83, before losing to Westmont in the 1972 NAIA basketball tournament semi-finals 71–59. [4]

During his final season, Watts led the Gold Rush to their second consecutive NAIA District 30 Championship, defeating Dillard University 101–80. [4] In the 1973 NAIA basketball tournament Watts and his teammates upset Sam Houston State University, 67–60, in the second round. At the time, the Bearkats were ranked first in the country in all college division polls and had gone 34 games, over a two-year period, without a loss. The Xavier Gold Rush eventually lost in the semi-finals to Maryland-Eastern Shore 87–80.

NBA

Watts was not selected by any team in the 1973 NBA draft, but his former coach at Xavier University, Bob Hopkins, was a cousin of Bill Russell, who was the coach and general manager for the Seattle SuperSonics. Russell gave Watts a tryout and is noted for saying that, "Watts was the best-looking guard in camp and oftentimes embarrassed the other players." [5] Watts signed with the SuperSonics as a rookie free agent.

After making the roster for the 1973–74 season as a reserve, he played more frequently the following season. On February 21, 1975, Watts recorded his first career triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, along with adding 4 steals, in a 110–108 win over the Atlanta Hawks. [6] Two days later, Watts recorded a career-high 9 steals, while also scoring 13 points and adding 14 assists, during a 114–100 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. [7] He became a starter for the 1975–76 season. [8] That season, he led the NBA in total assists, assists per game, total steals, steals per game, and made NBA All-Defense First-Team. He was the first player to lead the NBA in assists and steals in the same season. [1]

In 1976, Watts also received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award for his outstanding service to the community. [9] Watts followed with another productive year in the 1976–77 season, averaging 8.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

At the start of the 1977–78 season, Watts was re-united with Hopkins, who was hired as the Sonics' new head coach. Hopkins was fired after a 5–17 start, and new coach Lenny Wilkens made some lineup changes, one of which was to replace Watts with Dennis Johnson. Watts was eventually traded mid-season to the New Orleans Jazz for a first-round draft pick.

Watts retired from the league after the 1978–79 season due to injury. He played 4+1⁄2 years with the Sonics, half a season with the New Orleans Jazz, and one season with the Houston Rockets. [1]

He picked up the nickname "Slick" because he was one of the first players to shave his head, unusual at the time. He was also known for wearing his headband off-center. [ citation needed ] Despite a somewhat short tenure on the SuperSonics, Watts is viewed as one of Seattle's more recognizable figures across sports. [10]

Later years

After his playing career, Watts became a physical education teacher at Dearborn Park Elementary school and High Point Elementary school. He also coached basketball at Franklin High School in the Seattle area and took up tennis. [11] In 2001, Watts spent 22 days in a hospital with sarcoidosis, which caused his weight to drop by almost 50 pounds before his condition improved. He ended his post-basketball career teaching physical education for nearly 20 years at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary (formerly named Brighton Elementary) in Seattle before retiring in 2017. [12] In April 2021, three months before his 70th birthday, Watts suffered a major stroke. [13]

Watts is one of five 1970s Seattle SuperSonics players whose names are featured on characters in "The Exterminator," the third episode of Season 1 of iZombie . The other four are Freddie Brown, Gus Williams, Wally Walker and Marvin Webster. [14]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage 3P%  3-point field goal percentage FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high
 * Led the league

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1973–74 Seattle 62–23.0.388–.6452.95.71.90.28.0
1974–75 Seattle 82–25.1.421–.6083.26.12.30.16.8
1975–76 Seattle 82–33.9.427–.5784.58.1*3.2*0.213.0
1976–77 Seattle 79–33.3.422–.5873.98.02.70.313.0
1977–78 Seattle 32–25.3.404–.5662.54.21.70.47.8
1977–78 New Orleans 39–19.9.381–.6022.54.11.40.47.2
1978–79 Houston 61–17.1.405–.6121.74.01.20.23.7
Career437–26.3.413–.5973.26.12.20.38.9

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1975 Seattle 9–31.3.462–.5383.77.13.00.411.1
1976 Seattle 6–32.8.435–.4783.08.22.00.311.8
1979 Houston 2–21.5.400–.6673.53.52.00.57.0
Career17–30.7.446–.5193.47.12.50.410.9

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Westphal</span> American basketball player and coach (1950–2021)

Paul Douglas Westphal was an American basketball player and coach.

Drew William Barry is an American retired professional basketball player. He is the son of Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry and has four brothers: Scooter, Jon, Canyon and Brent, who also share his profession. His grandfather Bruce Hale also played in the NBA and was Rick's college coach at Miami of Florida. His stepmother is Lynn Barry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Payton</span> American basketball player (born 1968)

Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, where he holds franchise records in assists and steals and led them to an NBA Finals appearance. He also played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat. Payton won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006. Nicknamed "the Glove" for his defensive abilities, Payton was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. In October 2021, Payton was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenny Wilkens</span> American basketball player and coach

Leonard Randolph Wilkens is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team" for which he was an assistant coach. In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th season celebration list as player and coach. He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Williams (basketball)</span> American basketball player

Gus Williams is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Wizard", he played for the Seattle SuperSonics, winning an NBA championship in 1979. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Hazzard</span> American professional basketball player and coach

Mahdi Abdul-Rahman was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first national championship team in 1964. He also won a gold medal that year with the US national team at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Hazzard began his pro career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Lakers, who selected him a territorial pick in the 1964 NBA draft. He was named an NBA All-Star with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1968. After his playing career ended, he was the head coach at UCLA during the 1980s.

Xavier Maurice McDaniel, nicknamed "X-Man", is an American retired professional basketball player who, at 6 ft 7 in, played both small forward and power forward. He played in college at Wichita State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Porter</span> American basketball player and coach

Terry Porter is an American former college basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Portland. A native of Wisconsin, he played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point before being drafted 24th by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1985 NBA draft. In Portland, he played ten seasons with two All-Star Game appearances. Porter spent 17 years in the NBA as a player. Following his retirement as a player in 2002, he began coaching in the league. Porter has twice been a head coach, first with his hometown Milwaukee Bucks and then with the Phoenix Suns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nate McMillan</span> American NBA basketball coach and former player

Nathaniel McMillan is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005, the Portland Trail Blazers from 2005 to 2012, and the Indiana Pacers from 2016 to 2020. Nate served as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, before becoming the head coach from 2021 to 2023. He spent his entire 12-year NBA playing career with the SuperSonics, then served as an assistant coach for one-and-a-half years and as head coach for almost five years. His long tenure as a player and coach in Seattle earned him the nickname "Mr. Sonic".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Johnson</span> American basketball player (1954–2007)

Dennis Wayne Johnson, nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a coach of the Los Angeles Clippers and an alumnus of Dominguez High School, Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Sikma</span> American basketball player-coach

Jack Wayne Sikma is an American former professional basketball center. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star with the Seattle SuperSonics, who drafted him in the first round with the eighth overall pick of the 1977 NBA draft. In 1979, he won an NBA championship with Seattle. Sikma finished his playing career with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Gregory Ballard was an American professional basketball player and NBA assistant coach. A collegiate All-American at Oregon, Ballard averaged 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds over an eleven-season NBA career with the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors and briefly, the Seattle SuperSonics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Thorn</span> American basketball player (born 1941)

Rodney King Thorn is an American basketball executive and a former professional player and coach, Olympic Committee Chairman, with a career spanning over 50 years. In 2018, Thorn was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Fred Brown, nicknamed "Downtown Freddie Brown", is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) guard from the University of Iowa, he played 13 seasons (1971–1984) in the NBA, all with the Seattle SuperSonics. Known for his accurate outside shooting, Brown was selected to the 1976 NBA All-Star Game and scored 14,018 points in his career.

Robert M. Hopkins was an American basketball player and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Seals</span> American basketball player (1953–2020)

Bruce A. Seals was an American basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Alan Leroy Hairston is an American former professional basketball player and a college and high school head coach. His high school coaching career has garnered him multiple league, district and state championships, as well as numerous individual awards.

Travis Grant is an American former basketball small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers. He also was a member of the San Diego Conquistadors, Kentucky Colonels, and Indiana Pacers in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He played college basketball at Kentucky State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle SuperSonics</span> American professional basketball team, 1967–2008

The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and later as a member of the Western Conference's Pacific (1970–2004) and Northwest (2004–2008) divisions. After the 2007–08 season ended, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, where they now play as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 1975–76 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 9th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The SuperSonics finished the season in second place in the Western Conference with a 43–39 record, the same as the previous year and reached the playoffs for a second consecutive season, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the conference semifinals in six games.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Slick Watts". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  2. ↑ Slick Watts, Beloved Sonic and Husky Dad, Deals with Major Health Setback
  3. ↑ "'Slick' Picked Player of the Month". Xavier Herald Newspaper. December 1, 1970. p. 8. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "NAIA District 30 Men's Basketball – Varsity Pride". www.jonfmorse.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Donald "Slick" Watts Makes Sonics Roster". Xavier Herald Newspaper. October 1, 1973. p. 6. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  6. ↑ Slick Watts First Career Triple Double
  7. ↑ Slick Watts Career High 9 Steals
  8. ↑ "Watts Is Too Slick To Stay On SuperSonics' Bench Long". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. March 4, 1976. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  9. ↑ Vescey, George (February 8, 1987). "Sports Of The Times; The Youngest Old-Timer". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  10. ↑ Slick Watts, Beloved Sonic and Husky Dad
  11. ↑ Weaver, Mike (October 28, 1983). "Tennis helped 'Slick' Watts slide out of basketball". Tri City Herald. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  12. ↑ Jenks, Jayson (May 17, 2017). "Slick Watts at 65: Forever a Sonic, famously accessible". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  13. ↑ Stone, Larry (April 13, 2021). "Sending positive thoughts to Sonics great Slick Watts, who has 'long road to recovery' after stroke". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ Nussbaum, Danielle. "iZombie recap: 'The Exterminator,'" Entertainment Weekly, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.