At 95 years old, the longest-tenured employee of the team, and still equipped with one of the sharpest basketball minds, Bill Bertka has agreed to honor the franchises 75th anniversary season by sharing stories on what hes seen throughout Lakers History

This past Sunday, October 30, 2022, the Lakers first-ever superstar, George Mikan, was immortalized forever up in the teams rafters in Los Angeles.

Mr. Basketballbrought five world championships to the Lakers during their startin Minneapolis. George elevated the sport ofbasketball and not just because he was 610. He demanded that big men not only be seen on the court but revered.

To honor George, Volume 3 of the Bertka Files is about Lakers big men.

After Ilooped Coach Bertka in onthe topic for Volume 3,he arrivedat ourmeeting in his usual fashion, prepared withnotes andphotos from the past.

Then Coach tossed something across the table to me a typed story he had written in the late 2000s for no particular.In this piece, he analyzed the impact of big men on the game of basketballmost of themwhom he had coached.

This is what he wrote more than 10 years ago, published for the first time in the Bertka Files Volume 3:

I have been around the basketball court longer than some people have been alive, and Ive been lucky enough to play against, coach against, and work with the best in the game. Ive watched the sport evolve from decade to decade, and one of the most interesting trends Ive noticed is post-play. In the late 1950s, you had two big men: Bob Kurland and George Mikan. That was it. This year, 39 seven-footers are in the NBA, and 92 are 6-10 or higher.

And yet, even though players are bigger, they dont play as big as they did in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Basketball fans today lament the dearth of true back-to-the-basket post players, and its truethe games big men are now almost as athletic, agile, and quick as their smaller counterparts. But here in L.A., we might just see a resurgence of the true back em down and bang em post player in Andrew Bynum. But more on him later.

I remember Mikan very well. When he was dominating the league with the Minneapolis Lakers in the 50s, I was playing college basketball at Kent State University. I got to know George more later on in life when he was the ABA commissioner, and I was doing a lot of scouting. George always came to the games, always came in the locker room, and said hello.

He came out of DePaul University under the tutelage of Ray Meyer, who developed him into a premiere postman. His game was a classic right-hand hook shot, which was unstoppable at the time. The only guy who could compete with him was Kurland, from Oklahoma State, who went on to play with the Philip 66 Oilers of the National Industrial Basketball League.

Of course, Bill Russell was the next real center, a dominant player out of the University of San Francisco. I didnt coach against him, but ironically the same night that his San Francisco teams 60-game winning streak was broken, I was a junior college coach at Hancock College in Santa Maria, CA and we had a 41-game win streak broken.

Ill always remember the clashes Russell had with Wilt Chamberlain. Russell used to play peek-a-boo with him. Hed never let Chamberlain know quite where he was. He wouldnt let him feel him, and when Chamberlain would go up for a shot, hed just block it out of nowhere.

When the Lakers acquired Wilt in 1968 (the year after he averaged an astounding 24 points, 24 rebounds, and nine assists for Philly), we were all very excited. He was the only one to answer Russell. I found Wilt to be a very sensitive, caring guy. He always said, Nobody loves me. Nobody loves Goliath. He felt that he did so much but was still underappreciated by fans and by his team. So, he went about it by saying, Ill become the best rebounder, or Ill become the highest scorer. But the story was always the same: Wilt torched all the records and Russell won all the championships.

Wilt and I had a lot of discussions, and he always said to me, the greatest team I ever played on was the 66-67 Philadelphia 76ers, (the year they won the championship), but the most enjoyable year I ever had was in 71-72 with the Lakers. He had returned from an injury and really enjoyed how the fans had encouraged him to come back. And for the first time, he said he really felt part of a team, where he didnt have to score all the points, he just had to pull his oar. For the first time in his life, he felt loved.

As Wilts career was winding down, Kareem Abdul-Jabbars was getting going. There was a lot of hullabaloo the first time they met at the Forum. Wilt was a proud guy, and Kareem was an incredible talent at that time, so everybody was talking about them. When the game ended, Wilt had 25 points, 25 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Kareem had 23 points, 20 rebounds, and two blocked shots. And Wilts team won, so of course, the next day he said, We win. I outplayed him, but who do they talk about? Him.

The thing Ill always remember about Kareem was his focus and game preparation. Players had to be in the locker room at six oclock on game night, and every game Kareem would invariably be sitting at his locker reading something. He never talked. No shenanigans, no jokes. Just placid. He was focusing mentally. And if a writer or someone approached him, Hed just look up and give them a stare that would justwiltthem. Each night for about 20 years in the league, he was one of the most focused athletes Ive been around.

Those big men were some of historys greatest players, but there were many others who didnt have much limelight. Wes Unseld was only 68, but he was a brute. He could snap the ball to mid-court for fast breaks and anchored a champion Washington Bullets team. Moses Malone was another powerful rebounder, and if he missed his shot, watch out. Nobody pursued his shot better than Moses. Arvydas Sabonis was another unstoppable big man. Its a shame he didnt get to the NBA before his leg injuries because I saw him play in Russia, and he was so towering, yet so dexterous and cerebral.

Speaking of European centers, another guy who has a place in my heart is Vlade Divac. When we drafted Vlade, Jack Ramsay echoed a lot of critics when he said, Look the Lakers drafted a guy who will never be a center in the NBA. A couple of years later, I ran into Jack, and he said, I cant believe the job you guys did with Divac. Hes a damn good player.

Vlade had a language problem in his first year, and though he had an interpreter, he and I had a system. When I wanted him to do something offensively, we numbered it. If I wanted Vlade to take a hook shot, that was one. If I wanted him to take a countermove, that was two. If I wanted a shake and bake, that was three. So, during the game, Id stand up on the sidelines and scream out, One! Two! Three! depending on how they were playing. He was just in my office a few weeks ago and we were laughing about it.

Even though many of todays seven-footers play like guards, Like Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki, there are still a few true post players left, like Yao Ming, Shaquille ONeal, and our youngster, Bynum.

Assistant GM Ronnie Lester and I first saw Andrew at the 2005 McDonalds All-American game. Ronnie said, Take a look at the size of that guy! He was 300 pounds and over seven feet tall, but he was a bit on the heavy side. When we heard he declared for the draft, we checked in on him and discovered Andrew had lost some weight. So, we had a workout, and I noticed a solid base and good instincts with his back to the basket. I also noticed that when you banged him, he had a certain aggressivenessthat you like to see.

But when we did some full-court drills, he ran very poorly. After the workout was over, we told him he really had to work on his running, and his second and third effort. And those are the things that you see now that hes really improved on.

Kareem has been working with Andrew, and I have a feeling hes been having discussions about Andrews focusand its rubbing off. Andrew is a diamond in the rough, but you can only polish a diamond with a diamond, and thats what were doing now. Hes learning the game from an all-time great. Hes a quick learner, so he has the chance to be the complete package.

It seems like everyone always asks me this question: If you put all these centers in a gymMikan, Russell, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaq, Yaowho is the first guy you pick to start your team? What a choice.

All of them had unique qualities, but for my money, only two centers had the complete package, and that was Shaquille ONeal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Shaq had power, quickness, shot-blocking ability everything. As did Kareem. But you have to judge a player on the bottom line, which championships. Shaq has enjoyed four championships, while Kareem won five. So, Id take Kareem.

But thats a first choice among many equals.

They say basketball is a tall mans game, and the gentlemen Ive discussed played as tall as can be. Its been a pleasure to have been on the court with them.

The Bertka Files, Volume 3 Part 1: Lakers Big Men

The Bertka Files, Volume 2: Lakers Training Camp

The Bertka Files, Volume 1: Kobe Bryant

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