Donald Earl "Slick" Watts (born July 22, 1951) is an American former basketball player. He is perhaps most well known for being the first

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player to lead the league in both assists and steals, in 1976.

College

"Slick" Watts originally attended Grand View Junior College but transferred to

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU ...

in 1970, where he would play college basketball for three years under coach Bob Hopkins, and alongside his teammate, future ABA and

star

Bruce Seals Bruce A. Seals (June 18, 1953 – December 15, 2020) was an American basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Seals was drafted in the first round by the Utah Stars, playing t ...

. 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 Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

85-83, but would go on to lose to Westmont in the

1972 NAIA men's basketball tournament Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condi ...

semi-finals 71-59. During his final season, Watts lead the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

to their second consecutive NAIA District 30 Championship, defeating

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of Ch ...

101-80. In the

1973 NAIA men's basketball tournament Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Watts and his teammates would upset

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

, 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.

NBA

Watts was not selected by any team in the

1973 NBA draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

, but his former coach at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

, 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." 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. Two days later, Watts recorded a career-high 9 steals, while also scoring 13 points and adding 14 assists, during a 114-10 loss to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. He became a starter for the 1975–76 season. 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. In 1976, Watts also received the

J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award was an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given from 1975 to 2020 to a player, coach, or staff member who showed "outstanding service and dedication to the community." The award was named in ...

for his outstanding service to the community. 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 Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), 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 c ...

. 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 years with the Sonics, half a season with the New Orleans Jazz, and one season with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. 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. Despite a somewhat short tenure on the SuperSonics, Watts is viewed as one of Seattle’s more recognizable figures across sports.

Later years

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. In 2001, Watts spent 22 days in a hospital with

sarcoidosis Sarcoidosis (also known as ''Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease'') is a disease involving abnormal collections of inflammatory cells that form lumps known as granulomata. The disease usually begins in the lungs, skin, or lymph nodes. Less commonly af ...

, 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. In April 2021, three months before his 70th birthday, Watts suffered a major stroke.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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Playoffs

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1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

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1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

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, 6, , –, , 32.8, , .435, , –, , .478, , 3.0, , 8.2, , 2.0, , 0.3, , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, stye="text-align:left;",

, 2, , –, , 21.5, , .400, , –, , .667, , 3.5, , 3.5, , 2.0, , 0.5, , 7.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 17 , , – , , 30.7 , , .446 , , – , , .519 , , 3.4 , , 7.1 , , 2.5 , , 0.4 , , 10.9

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Slick 1951 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi Grand View Vikings men's basketball players Houston Rockets players New Orleans Jazz players People from Rolling Fork, Mississippi Point guards Seattle SuperSonics players Street basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Xavier Gold Rush basketball players

College

NBA

Later years

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links