BERTKA'S VIEW ONE OF THE BEST LONG-TIME ASSISTANT COACH CONTINUES TO PROVIDE EXPERTISE.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

Winning never gets old, especially for assistant coaches who do.

``I went from being 72 years old to feeling about 57,'' joked Bill Bertka, who concluded his 19th consecutive season as a Lakers assistant coach last month with his and the L.A. Lakers franchise's, seventh world championship.

``I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be able to continue on, and I'm appreciative, I really am. You don't know how strongly I feel about it, because I certainly would have hated to be sitting home and watching what transpired in the NBA Finals on television.''

Instead, Bertka had a courtside seat from which to watch history, just as he has for much of the past three decades.

Bertka joined the Lakers in 1968 as chief scout and director of player personnel, left in 1975 to become general manager of the expansion New Orleans Jazz and returned to Los Angeles in 1981 as an assistant coach.

Through seven head coaches and hundreds of players, Bertka has been the one constant on the Laker bench, where he has doled out advice to three generations of Hall of Famers, and although he modestly scoffs at the suggestion, Bertka has undeniably become a franchise icon.

``Well, I appreciate that people would think that,'' Bertka said, ``but I haven't established any records or set any worlds on fire with anything I've done, other than the fact that I've been a longtime assistant.

``I haven't personally won any world championships, I haven't personally guided any teams to great heights and I haven't personally made any so-called footprints in the sand.

``Maybe I would have liked to have been known as one of the great coaches of all time or something like that, but maybe my claim to fame has become longevity as an assistant coach. If it has, then I am certainly proud of that.''

Those who have known Bertka over the years won't let him get away with downplaying his role in the success of the team.

Pundits talk about older coaches being ``passed'' by the game, but not Bertka. His down-home, gentleman's way of motivating players and explaining basketball is just as valid and useful today as it was before many of the current Lakers players were born.

``Whatever his age is, I want to be in that kind of shape when I get there,'' Lakers backup center John Salley told a wire-service reporter earlier this year. ``He knows the game, he studies it, and you know how they talk about the younger generation? He can get the message across.''

Bertka almost didn't get a chance to get the message across this year.

Last June, the Lakers named Phil Jackson as their 15th head coach in franchise history, and it became a given that Jackson would attempt to bring many of his former Chicago Bulls assistant coaches with him, because of their familiarity with the triangle offense in particular and Jackson's coaching style in general.

``Phil met with the existing staff and told us his plans, that he was going to bring his own staff in,'' Bertka said. ``I thoroughly understood that, and at the time I figured I was probably the low man on the totem pole.''

Bertka, under contract until September, worked with the Lakers' summer-league team. When Jackson brought in Jim Cleamons, Frank Hamblen and Tex Winter, Bertka began to mentally prepare himself for the idea that it was time to bid farewell to the NBA and enjoy life with his wife Solveig on their 50-acre avocado ranch in Santa Barbara.

``Before the summer was over,'' Bertka said, ``I got a call from Tex and he said there was a chance that I might be retained on the staff.''

In his new role of ``assistant coach/scout,'' Bertka became a front-office consultant and assisted Jackson in practice, which earned him a seat directly behind the Lakers' bench during games.

``I wanted to contribute in some way, whatever way it might be,'' Bertka said. ``I've been with this organization for a long time, but that alone didn't qualify me for a job. But thankfully they found a spot for me and a role in which I could contribute.''

Bertka wouldn't dare say it, but it was no doubt important for the Lakers to keep a link to their championship past. Bertka was there in 1972, with Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, all the way through the Showtime era of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

He didn't expect a championship this year, but Bertka could see that the Lakers were on the rise, and nobody on the coaching staff was in a better position to explain why this Laker team exceeded expectations when previous teams fell short.

``You can have a lot of talent on a team,'' Bertka said, ``but the team isn't going to win until all the talent gets on the same page and decides to play the game the way it's supposed to be played.

``This year, Phil Jackson got their attention, without any questions. They all accepted their roles, and they ended up as world champions. Collectively, they were one heck of a team. They made each other better, and that's what basketball is all about.''

The championship run has re-energized Bertka, who ``absolutely'' plans to fulfill the remainder of the three-year contract he signed last fall.

``It meant a lot to me to experience another championship,'' Bertka said, ``and now I want to experience another one. To win a world championship in any sport, that means you've done the ultimate in your profession, so being part of another world championship is very special to me.''

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Photo: Bill Bertka has been a Lakers fixture for 26 years, including the last 19 as an assistant coach. Daily News archive