{"id":28380,"date":"2025-03-20T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T10:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matchplug.com\/blog\/?p=28380"},"modified":"2025-03-20T11:00:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T10:00:26","slug":"former-sonic-and-seattle-player-donald-slick-watts-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matchplug.com\/blog\/former-sonic-and-seattle-player-donald-slick-watts-passes-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Sonic and Seattle Player Donald &#8216;Slick&#8217; Watts passes away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Donald \u201cSlick\u201d Watts, a fan favorite for the SuperSonics and later a beloved teacher and coach in Seattle, has died. He was 73.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watts had been in poor health following a stroke in 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watts\u2019 son Donald, who played for Washington, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/donaldwatts24\/status\/1900986908274290751\">announced his father\u2019s death Saturday on a social media<\/a> post which siad: \u201cYou did so much for so many of us. It was an honor call you pops.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watts was to the Sonics in 1973 as an undrafted rookie. He was with Seattle for a few years but became well known for his broad smile, bald head, and crooked headbands. He led the league in steals in the 1975-76 season.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other teams he played did include New Orleans Jazz and the Houston Rockets but Seattle was his one true home after he retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He taught physical education in the Seattle School District and ran a basketball academy with his son. He was named to the Sonics\u2019 40th anniversary team.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watts remained active in the Seattle basketball scene, coaching and mentoring young athletes. His grandson Isaiah Watts and the Seattle Storm paid tribute to his legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a social media post, Isaac Watts wrote&nbsp; \u201cI pray every time they see me they see you. Love you past life. I got us forever. Rest in paradise papa.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are saddened by the passing of Sonics icon Slick Watts,\u201d the Storm posted to social media. \u201cSlick was a champion for the Storm and a beloved member of the Seattle community.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donald \u201cSlick\u201d Watts, a fan favorite for the SuperSonics and later a beloved teacher and coach in Seattle, has died. He was 73.&nbsp;&nbsp; Watts had been in poor health following a stroke in 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp; Watts\u2019 son Donald, who played for Washington, announced his father\u2019s death Saturday on a social media post which siad: \u201cYou did so much for so many of us. It was an honor call you pops.\u201d&nbsp; Watts was to the Sonics in 1973 as an undrafted rookie. He was with Seattle for a few years but became well known for his broad smile, bald head, and crooked headbands. He led the league in steals in the 1975-76 season.&nbsp;&nbsp; Other teams he played did include New Orleans Jazz and the Houston Rockets but Seattle was his one true home after he retired. He taught physical education in the Seattle School District and ran a basketball academy with his son. He was named to the Sonics\u2019 40th anniversary team.&nbsp;&nbsp; Watts remained active in the Seattle basketball scene, coaching and mentoring young athletes. His grandson Isaiah Watts and the Seattle Storm paid tribute to his legacy. In a social media post, Isaac Watts wrote&nbsp; \u201cI pray every time they see me they see you. Love you past life. I got us forever. Rest in paradise papa.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cWe are saddened by the passing of Sonics icon Slick Watts,\u201d the Storm posted to social media. \u201cSlick was a champion for the Storm and a beloved member of the Seattle community.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[220,3,169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-sport-football-news","category-basketball","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former Sonic and Seattle Player Donald &#039;Slick&#039; Watts passes away - Matchplug Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Donald Watts Aka Slick has passed away at the age of 73 after succumbing to poor health from a stroke in 2021.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/matchplug.com\/blog\/former-sonic-and-seattle-player-donald-slick-watts-passes-away\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Sonic and Seattle Player Donald &#039;Slick&#039; 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