Sports Poets Society

https://vault.si.com/vault/1976/02/23/slicks-his-nameand-his-game SEATTLE'S NIFTY GUARD WOULD BE A SHOO-IN IN A POPULARITY CONTEST, TOO JOHN PAPANEK Sports Illustrated -  FEBRUARY 23, 1976 TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT Whether or not Slick Watts is the most popular athlete ever to perform in the state of Washington is no longer in question. Forget Hugh McElhenny, Elgin Baylor and Lenny Wilkens . The question now is: Why do Washingtonians regard a totally bald six-foot, 24-year-old black backcourtman as the most popular person ever to live in the state? What about Judy Collins? Bing Crosby? That celebrated pick and roll artist Jimi Hendrix ? The next President of the United States, Henry (Scoop) Jackson ? Watts, who plays for the Seattle Super-Sonics, isn't even close to being a superstar . He's a very good player and getting better, and he leads the young Sonics with boundless optimism and energy. He also leads the universe in color on court and off. Watts emerged 2½ y...

Slick Watts in 1976 in his signature headband. In the 1975-76 season, he became the first player to lead the N.B.A. in both assists and steals.Credit...George Gojkovich/Getty Images https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/obituaries/slick-watts-dead.html An undrafted, 6-foot-1 point guard with patchy hair, he made an enduring fashion statement and became seen as the ultimate Seattle SuperSonic . By Alex Traub Published March 16, 2025Updated March 18, 2025 Slick Watts, an unheralded, undersized, patchy-haired point guard who turned his obstacles into springboards, endearing himself to fans of the Seattle SuperSonics long past the team’s existence and helping to invent the headband as a basketball fashion signature, has died. He was 73. His son Donald announced the death on social media on Saturday in a statement that did not provide further details. In 2021, Watts had a major stroke, and he spent recent years dealing with lung sarcoidosis, an inflammatory condition. Watts played for the Sup...

1 of 13 | Slick Watts, in 1978, was named to the Sonics’ 40th anniversary team before the team being moved to Oklahoma City. He was such a Seattle institution, the Blue Scholars,  a local hip-hop group, named a song after him. (Seattle Supersonics) https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sonics/sonics-legend-slick-watts-dies-at-73/ March 15, 2025 at 12:26 pm  Updated March 15, 2025 at 1:46 pm 2 of 13 | Slick Watts arrives before the 76th Annual Sports Star of the year  banquet held at Benaroya Hall in 2011. (Jim Bates / The Seattle Times) By  Tim Booth Seattle Times staff reporter Slick Watts, the baldheaded point guard known for his colorful headbands as a player and his role as an ambassador of Seattle basketball following the conclusion of his NBA career, died Saturday morning at the age of 73. Watts was a generational figure in the Seattle hoops scene, first as a starter for the SuperSonics in the mid-1970s as a young guard from Mississippi before becoming one of ...

Former Seattle SuperSonics player Slick Watts stands courtside before an NBA basketball preseason game between the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings,  Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren) https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/apr/16/sending-positive-thoughts-to-sonics-great-slick-wa/ April 16, 2021  Updated Fri., April 16, 2021 at 9:19 p.m. By Larry Stone - Seattle Times With all due respect to Jay Buhner and Gary Payton, it might well be the most famous dome in Seattle sports history – beautifully bald, long before it was fashionable. And he owns an instantly recognizable nickname that is sheer perfection in describing both his look and his game. But Donald Earl “Slick” Watts is far more than a catchy moniker and a shiny pate, the latter invariably outfitted with a headband that, as described long ago by a New York Times columnist, “makes him look like the planet Saturn in sneakers.” No, somewhere along the line Slick Watts became a Seattle institut...