【明報專訊】Larry Bird was born on 7 December 1956 in Indiana, the US. He was American basketball player who led the Boston Celtics (波士頓塞爾特人) to three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships (1981, 1984 and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time.
Bird was drafted by the Boston Celtics after his junior year at Indiana State (1978) but did not play professionally until the 1979-1980 season, when he won the Rookie of the Year award (最佳新秀獎) after contributing to one of the largest single-season turnarounds in NBA history (a 32-win improvement).
Over the course of his 13 seasons with the Celtics, the self-described "Hick (鄉下人) from French Lick" cemented (鞏固) his legacy as one of the greatest players in NBA history. A 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 metres) forward (前鋒), he was known for his unflappable (鎮定的) confidence and clutch shooting ability, which together created an intimidating (令人生畏的) presence on the court. The Celtics won their first NBA title with Bird (and 14th overall) in 1981; they repeated with title wins in 1984 and 1986. Bird was a 12-time All Star and won three consecutive league Most Valuable Player awards (1984-1986), the first non-centre to do so. Bird retired in 1993 and was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.
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