Lakers News: 95-Year-Old Lakers Legend On Hand For 10 Titles Still Scouting Prospects Ahead Of Draft
To paraphrase founding father and would-be Philadelphia 76ers fan Benjamin Franklin, only three things in this life are certain: death, taxes and Bill Bertka spending his days scouting NBA prospects for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 95-year-old Santa Barbara native first got his start with the Lakers in 1968, when he was hired as a part-time scout. Today, he works as a special assistant and consultant, having been a part of 10 championships for the purple and gold.
Mike Trudell, a Lakers beat reporter, saw Bertka at the UCLA Health Training Center spending yet another offseason evaluating draft prospects.
"Ran into a 🐐 at the office: 95-years-young Bill Bertka was there, as always, for draft workouts that needed his eye."
(Via @miketrudell)
Trudell has had a legendary career in basketball, once playing for the Santa Maria Dukes of the National Industrial Basketball League. After a long coaching career at the high school and college level, Bertka took a job as the director of community recreation for the city of Santa Barbara.
In an effort to remain close to the sport of basketball, Bertka and his wife, Solveig, started what became one of the most successful college scouting services in the country, dubbed "Bertka's Views." He also hosted an award-winning radio show in Santa Barbara called Sports With Bertka.
After a few years of working as a scout for the Lakers, Bertka took an assistant coaching role in addition to his work in the offseason in 1971. That team went on to win 33 consecutive games, still a recored to this day, on their way to an NBA title. Bertka is credited with compiling film on upcoming opponents in an effort to prepare the team, which was considered revolutionary at the time.
Bertka spent a near decade as the first general manager of the New Orleans Jazz before Pat Riley brought Bertka back to the Lakers in 1981 to be his assistant coach.
As they enjoyed the spoils of the "Showtime" era, winning four NBA championships along the way, Riley and Bertka created the plus-minus system as a way to judge a player's efficacy.
With the Lakers looking to rebound from a Western Conference Finals loss, perhaps it is a good sign to see Bertka still around the office.
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