# Ron Watts

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NBA basketball player (1943–2022)

Ron Watts Watts, circa 1965 Personal information Born (1943-05-21)May 21, 1943 Washington, D.C., U.S. Died November 2, 2022(2022-11-02) (aged 79) Rockville, Maryland, U.S. Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg) Career information High school Woodrow Wilson (Washington, D.C.) College Wake Forest (1962–1965) NBA draft 1965: 2nd round, 13th overall pick Drafted by Boston Celtics Playing career 1965–1967 Position Small forward Number 12 Career history 1965–1967 Boston Celtics Career highlights NBA champion (1966) Stats at NBA.com Stats at Basketball Reference

**Ronald Michael Watts** (May 21, 1943 – November 2, 2022) was an American professional [basketball](/source/Basketball) player.

A 6'6" [small forward](/source/Small_forward) from [Wake Forest University](/source/Wake_Forest_University), Watts played in the [National Basketball Association](/source/National_Basketball_Association) (NBA) for two seasons (1965–67) as a member of the [Boston Celtics](/source/Boston_Celtics).

After his career with the Celtics, he was featured in a series of Clio-award-winning commercials for AT&T with his good friend Bill Russell. The commercials showed Watts and Russell cracking jokes at each other's expense, and helped to launch AT&T's long-distance telephone service. Watts found fame with this commercial and its success was parlayed into the WATS line, standing for "Wide Area Telecommunications Service", which was AT&T's corporate offering for businesses. When AT&T was the largest company in the world, the revenue from the WATS line alone would have made it the eighth largest corporation in the world. However, this was before celebrities were highly compensated for endorsement deals and Watts received no profit share.

Watts died on November 2, 2022, at the age of 79.[1]

## 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 † Won an NBA championship

### NBA

Source[2]

#### Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1965–66† Boston 1 3.0 .500 – 1.0 1.0 2.0 1966–67 Boston 27 3.3 .250 .696 1.4 .0 1.4 Career 28 3.3 .261 .696 1.4 .1 1.4

#### Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1967 Boston 1 5.0 .167 .500 2.0 .0 3.0

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Ronny Watts"](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/ronny-watts-obituary?id=37006533). *Legacy*. Retrieved November 15, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bbr_2-0)** ["Ron Watts NBA stats"](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wattsro01.html). *[Basketball Reference](/source/Basketball_Reference)*. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 5, 2024.

## External links

- Career statistics from [NBA.com](https://stats.nba.com/player/78474/) · [Basketball Reference](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wattsro01.html)

- [College stats](http://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=423%3Aron-watts&catid=53%3A1965-nba-draft&Itemid=1)

v t e 1965 NBA draft Territorial pick Bill Bradley Bill Buntin Gail Goodrich First round Fred Hetzel Rick Barry Dave Stallworth Jerry Sloan Billy Cunningham Jim Washington Nate Bowman Ollie Johnson Second round Wilbert Frazier Dick Van Arsdale Tom Van Arsdale Tal Brody Jesse Branson Harold Blevins Flynn Robinson John Fairchild Ron Watts

v t e Boston Celtics 1965–66 NBA champions 5 Thompson 6 Russell 11 Counts 12 Naulls 14 Watts 16 Sanders 17 Havlicek 18 Sauldsberry 19 Nelson 20 Siegfried 21 Bonham 24 S. Jones 25 K. Jones Head coach: Auerbach Regular season Playoffs

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