Bill Bertka
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William M. Bertka (born August 8, 1927) is a current basketball consultant/special assistant and a former
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) assistant coach, scout and executive with the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
and New Orleans Jazz. A pioneering proponent of film study, advance scouting, player development and basketball analytics, Bertka has spent more than 50 years in the NBA and has been a part of 10 NBA championships with the Lakers, including seven as an assistant coach.


Early life

Bertka was born in
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...
. He was raised in
Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...
, and credited the local Akron YMCA as the place where he developed a passion for the game of basketball. He played at nearby Buchtel High and won a city championship in 1945. He went into the U.S. Army out of high school, serving in communications rebuilding efforts for two years in Salzburg, Austria, following the conclusion of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Using the GI Bill to fund his education upon his return from Europe, Bertka attended
Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...
and played for the Division I basketball team from 1949–51.


Pre-NBA career

After graduating, Bertka began a coaching journey that brought him to the West Coast. He coached at the high school level for three years before spending nine years at two different colleges. It was at that time, during a two-year span beginning in 1952, that Bertka played professionally for the Santa Maria Golden Dukes of the
National Industrial Basketball League The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) bel ...
, a precursor to the NBA. In 1954, he took over in his first collegiate head coaching role at Hancock College (Santa Maria, CA), where he would later lead the Bulldogs to a 41-game winning streak and the state community college championship in 1957. Bertka also coached his alma mater of Kent State from 1957–61, where, at the age of 30, he was one of the youngest college head coaches in America. He left coaching in 1961 to take a job as the director of community recreation for the city of Santa Barbara, where he served for a decade. It was during this time that he and his wife, Solveig, began an endeavor called "Bertka's Views" that became one of the most successful college scouting services in the country. Operating from 1961–1995, many of the nation’s premier college basketball programs utilized Bertka’s Views as their sole scouting service, which also served as a key starting point for a number of scouts and coaches that would eventually make it to the NBA. Additionally during this time, Bertka hosted ''Sports With Bertka'', his own radio show in Santa Barbara that won three Golden Mike Awards in the 1970s.


Professional coaching career

Bertka began his NBA career in 1968 when the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
followed the recommendation of former West Virginia great
Rod Hundley Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley (October 26, 1934 – March 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball, West Virginia ...
and hired him to scout college players for the NBA Draft, making him the first full-time scout in league history. When Head Coach
Bill Sharman William Walton Sharman (May 25, 1926 – October 25, 2013) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what was then consider ...
took over the team in 1971–72, Bertka began working with players in an assistant coaching role while also adding advance scouting duties. In what was revolutionary at the time, he would compile film on upcoming opponents in order to prepare the team. That group would later go on a 33-game winning streak – still a professional sports record – en route to an
NBA title The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Easter ...
, giving Bertka his first ring. In 1974, Bertka left the Lakers to become the first general manager of the New Orleans Jazz (now the
Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...
) and also had an initial ownership stake in the franchise through his company, Invest West Sports. He would later serve as a Jazz assistant coach under
Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...
beginning in the 1977–78 season. In 1981,
Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...
became head coach of the Lakers and brought Bertka back as his first assistant. Together, the duo constructed what came to be known as the Lakers “Showtime” era, guiding the team to seven NBA Finals appearances in nine seasons and winning four NBA titles (
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
,
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
,
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
, 1988). During this time, Bertka and Riley created their own measure of player performance – the plus-minus system – in what became one of the league’s earliest preludes to modern basketball analytics. Bertka remained as an assistant coach with the Lakers for two decades, later winning back-to-back championships under Head Coach
Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...
in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
and
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, his final season on the Lakers bench. Bertka then transitioned to a primary role as Director of Scouting, a position in which he served through the 2011–12 season, winning three more league titles. He continues to advise the Lakers as a basketball consultant. Bertka has twice served as interim coach of the Lakers. His first stint, in relief of Randy Pfund toward the end of the 1993–94 season, lasted two games. The Lakers went 1–1, winning at Dallas, 112–109, and losing at Houston, 113–107. He also replaced Del Harris in the 1998–99 season, defeating the Clippers by a score of 115–100. At 71 years of age, the interim stint made Bertka the oldest person to ever coach an NBA game. Throughout his career, Bertka has coached some of the best players in the game’s history – including
Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...
,
Jerry West Jerry Alan West (May 28, 1938 – June 12, 2024) was an American basketball player and executive. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...
,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( ; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. , April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Associatio ...
, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and
Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...
, among others. Overall, he has 10 NBA Championship rings, including seven as an assistant coach with the Lakers and three in other roles with the team.


Head coaching record


NBA

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Awards and honors

Bertka is a member of several halls of fame, including the Santa Barbara Sports Hall of Fame (1989), the Summit County (OH) Sports Hall of Fame (1989), the Kent State University Sports Hall of Fame (2004) and the Santa Barbara Basketball Court of Champions (2014). In July 2019, he received the prestigious Tex Winter Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association, an honor recognizing Bertka’s extraordinary contributions to the sport throughout his career by building a body of work that has had a positive and powerful impact on the NBA coaching profession.


Personal life

Bertka and wife Solveig were married in 1956 and have two daughters – Britt, who is married to veteran NBA assistant coach Jim Eyen, and Kris, married to Yankees scout Bill Pintard – and they live on a 50-acre avocado farm in Santa Barbara.


References


External links

* Career coaching statistics fro
Basketball-Reference.com


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertka, Bill 1927 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in California Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball coaches Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball players Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Los Angeles Lakers head coaches New Orleans Jazz (NBA team) Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio 20th-century American sportsmen