The common thread that tie Bill Bertka, Don Ford, Brian Shaw and Jamaal Wilkes involve two things.
All have served in various capacities with the Lakers. All will be among the 21 inductees into the Santa Barbara Basketball Court of Champions on June 1, an inaugural event aimed to honor individuals from the Santa Barbara community that made significant contributions to basketball.
All four candidates provided that job description in various ways.
Bertka, the team’s current special assistant to the general manager for the past 11 years, has worked 33 seasons with the Lakers with various roles as a scout, director of player personnel and an assistant coach on the staffs ranging from Pat Riley, Mike Dunleavy, Randy Pfund, Magic Johnson, Del Harris, Kurt Rambis and Phil Jackson.
Wilkes played eight of his 12 NBA seasons with the Lakers, helping them to NBA titles in (1980, 1982, 1985). An unnamed UCLA engineering student first called him “Silk” during his sophomore season to describe his smooth style. The late Chick Hearn, the famed Lakers announcer, called Wilkes “the 20-foot layup” because of his consistent shot. He averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists while wearing the purple and gold despite nursing an unorthodox shooting stroke.
Shaw won three NBA championships both as a key reserve (1999-2003) and as an assistant under both Frank Hamblen Jackson (2004-2011). He also served one year as a scout.
Ford played for 4 1/2 seasons with the Lakers after being selected in the sixth round of the 1975 NBA Draft. Before he was traded to Cleveland, Ford averaged 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds through 368 games with the Lakers.
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