Threatt was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the sixth round of the 1983 NBA draft. He played for four seasons for the 76ers and was traded to the Chicago Bulls in 1986. In 1988, he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Sam Vincent. He played for Seattle for four seasons before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on October 2, 1991, in exchange for three second round draft picks. Threatt was expected to play a backup role to Magic Johnson. However, after Johnson's sudden retirement for medical reasons, Threatt became the starting point guard. Threatt's ability to steal the ball earned him the nickname "The Thief" from Lakers commentators Chick Hearn and Stu Lantz. Threatt led the Lakers in assists, steals and minutes played each in his first two seasons. In 1992-93, he became the second player in Lakers franchise history to lead the Lakers in scoring, assists, and steals. He scored a career high 42 points against the New York Knicks on March 10, 1992, and scored a career playoff high 35 points in Game 1 of the 1993 Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Phoenix Suns. He retired from the NBA after the 1996-97 season and went on to play basketball with the Gymnastikos S. Larissas before retiring in 2002.
Personal life
Threatt is thought to have fathered at least fourteen children, and been married twice. His first wife, Nicole Plotzker, left him for Dr. Dre; his second marriage was to Britt Johnson. In 2000, Threatt was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to pay child support. Threatt had a plea deal with prosecutors, who recommended five months of probation, but U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf rejected the agreement and sentenced him to prison. Wolf also ordered Threatt to comply with five other outstanding child-support orders for children in other jurisdictions. Threatt currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, working alongside his eldest son, Sedale Threatt Jr., in his company, Australian Basketball Development. Threatt has another son also named Sedale Threatt Jr., who attended college at Lehigh University and played quarterback on the football team. This Sedale Jr. later went into acting.
