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Slick Watts

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Slick Watts
Personal information
Born (1951-07-22) July 22, 1951 (age 73)
Rolling Fork, Mississippi
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolHenry Weather
(Rolling Fork, Mississippi)
College
NBA draft1973: undrafted
Playing career1973–1979
PositionPoint guard
Number13, 14, 00
Career history
1973–1978Seattle SuperSonics
1978New Orleans Jazz
1978–1979Houston Rockets
1980Anchorage Northern Knights
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Donald Earl "Slick" Watts (born July 22, 1951) is an American former basketball player.[1] "Slick" Watts attended Xavier University of Louisiana from 1970 to 1973, where he would play under coach Bob Hopkins, and alongside his teammate, and future ABA and NBA star, Bruce Seals. For the 1972 season, Watts and Seals would lead the Gold Rush to its first NAIA District 30 Men's Basketball championship defeating Nicholls State University 85-83, but would go on to lose to Westmont in the 1972 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament semi-finals 71-59.[2] During his final season, Watts lead the Gold Rush to their second consecutive NAIA District 30 Championship, defeating Dillard University 101-80.[2] In the 1973 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament Watts and his teammates would 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 would eventually lose in the semi-finals to Maryland-Eastern Shore 87-80.

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 he signed with the SuperSonics as a free agent. After making the roster for the 1973–74 season as a reserve, he played more frequently the following season and became a starter for the 1975–76 season.[3] 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 league 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.[4]

Watts' career declined after 1976, however,[4] and he retired from the league after six seasons, 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]

After his playing career, Watts became a physical education teacher at Dearborn Park elementary school and a basketball coach at Franklin High School in the Seattle area and took up tennis.[5] 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 in Seattle before retiring in 2017.[6]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games 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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1973–74 Seattle 62 – 23.0 .388 – .645 2.9 5.7 1.9 0.2 8.0
1974–75 Seattle 82 – 25.1 .421 – .608 3.2 6.1 2.3 0.1 6.8
1975–76 Seattle 82 – 33.9 .427 – .578 4.5 8.1* 3.2* 0.2 13.0
1976–77 Seattle 79 – 33.3 .422 – .587 3.9 8.0 2.7 0.3 13.0
1977–78 Seattle 32 – 25.3 .404 – .566 2.5 4.2 1.7 0.4 7.8
1977–78 New Orleans 39 – 19.9 .381 – .602 2.5 4.1 1.4 0.4 7.2
1978–79 Houston 61 – 17.1 .405 – .612 1.7 4.0 1.2 0.2 3.7
Career 437 – 26.3 .413 – .597 3.2 6.1 2.2 0.3 8.9

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1975 Seattle 9 – 31.3 .462 – .538 3.7 7.1 3.0 0.4 11.1
1976 Seattle 6 – 32.8 .435 – .478 3.0 8.2 2.0 0.3 11.8
1979 Houston 2 – 21.5 .400 – .667 3.5 3.5 2.0 0.5 7.0
Career 17 – 30.7 .446 – .519 3.4 7.1 2.5 0.4 10.9

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Slick Watts". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  2. ^ a b "NAIA District 30 Men's Basketball - Varsity Pride". www.jonfmorse.com. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  3. ^ "Watts Is Too Slick To Stay On SuperSonics' Bench Long". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. 1976-03-04. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  4. ^ a b Vescey, George (1987-02-08). "Sports Of The Times; The Youngest Old-Timer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  5. ^ Weaver, Mike (1983-10-28). "Tennis helped 'Slick' Watts slide out of basketball". Tri City Herald. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  6. ^ Jenks, Jayson (2017-05-17). "Slick Watts at 65: Forever a Sonic, famously accessible". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
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