Bill Bertka
[1] 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.Using the GI Bill to fund his education upon his return from Europe, Bertka attended Kent State University and played for the Division I basketball team from 1949–51.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, a precursor to the NBA.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.[5] Throughout his career, Bertka has coached some of the best players in the game’s history – including Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, among others.