In the 80s of the last century, there was a superstar who spread all over the United States, he led the Celtics to dominate the East, won the championship three times, and the way this superstar conquered people was not by super talent, because his talent was a little worse than that of his contemporaries, he conquered people with a very high ball quotient and unique personality, this superstar is Larry Bird, this article will talk about Larry Bird.
A full-fledged striker, a trash talker on the field
Bird is 2.06 meters tall, plays as a small forward, and sometimes can make cameo appearances in the fourth position, Bird's athleticism is good among white players, but compared with those bouncing monsters, Bird's athleticism is very average, and Bird's talent is manifested in shooting. Bird's shooting ability is particularly strong, fast shot, high arc, not easy to cover, and Bird's shooting is no dead end, from the basket to the three-point line, which area, Bird can shoot, and Bird in the case of physical imbalance, he can also shoot, there is such a problemless shooting, so that Bird is not afraid of not getting points on the field, and the core of Bird's offense is shooting ability, he opens the opponent's defense by shooting.
In the attack, Bird will do a lot of shooting fake action, although it is a fake action, but if the opponent does not move, the fake action immediately becomes a real action, the real and false action seamlessly switches, the defender sees Bird do the shooting action does not dare not defend, the center of gravity moves slightly, Bird is followed by a breakthrough action, the connection is particularly fast, the defensive player can not adjust the center of gravity, then it will lose the foul. When facing the frame, Bird receives the ball and makes a fake move, and then starts to attack, without needing too much dribbling, Bird can let the defense lose ground, which is the deterrent brought by shooting accuracy.
When backed, Bird's steps are very subtle, and the left and right hands can shoot, all kinds of turning jump shots can break the opponent's shots, and, on offense, Bird can also see teammates and pass to teammates when he has the opportunity. The offensive end of Bird relies on shooting to accurately open the situation, with a breakthrough, back, play very freely, defensive end, Bird's footsteps are not top fast, single defense speed player performance is average, but Bird's ball quotient is high, after the speed is not lost, his single defense is very strong, the assistant defense performance is also very good, in the face of the ballless, he can also maintain a lot of defensive stickiness, career three times selected for the best defensive team second team.
In addition to shooting, Bird's other amazing thing is his passing, Bird's passing skills are very good, the passing vision is very good, and the passing awareness is good, the changes in the game situation, the discovery and grasp of opportunities are top-notch, in addition to the organization of the face frame, Bird can also do the axis in the low position, create opportunities for teammates, and the low Bird is both an offensive point and a response point. Bird is very tall, but the center of gravity is not high, and the hand is fast, decisive and fierce when the ball is broken, except for the last season, Bird is averaging at least one broken ball per game, averaging 1.7 breaks per game in his career, is a steal master, Bird's bounce is not very strong, but he is very good at finding the timing of the block, when playing the most fight, Bird can average 1.2 blocks per game.
From scoring to blocking, Bird is all kinds of good at the line, it can be said that it is all-round, and, Bird is on the field, that is really playing with his brain, he looks at the opponent's reaction, sees the situation on the field and then reacts, which is difficult to describe in words, only by watching the game, you can feel how high Bird's ball quotient is, those who have watched Bird play, are conquered by Bird's wonderful performance on the field.
Bird was very handsome when he was young, like he was not a polite person, he was a person who could annoy people with his mouth, Bird was very good at spraying garbage, as soon as the box was opened, it would not close, every time he scored a good goal, he would chatter and pierce the hearts of his opponents, and Bird's great point was that he could achieve what he had said, and when facing Wilkins, he would spray garbage, engage in Wilkins mentality, and say, I will shoot three points in front of you, and when I wait until the next round, he really shot three points. It made Wilkins feel bad. Bird performed wonderfully on the court, and his personality was very flamboyant, very eye-catching, the two added up, when Bird played, he had a lot of fans, and there were many people who liked him, and Bird left a lot of brilliant moments in the NBA 13 years.
Great NBA career
Bird was selected by the Celtics in 78, but he insisted on playing in the NBA after college, so the 78-80 season was Bird's rookie season, and this season, Bird's old rival in college, Magic Johnson, also entered the NBA, and the two started a new contest in the NBA. Bird's identity is a rookie, but his strength is already the strength of the star, playing very freely on the court, he led the Celtics to play a very good record, the best rookie was won by Bird, the All-Star Bird was also selected, the best team, Bird was also selected, Bird only took one season to make himself a first-line superstar in the NBA.
In the 80-81 season, Bird performed even more wonderfully, averaging 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2 steals per game, leading the Celtics to the playoffs once again, in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics met a strong opponent 76ers, after 4 games, the Celtics fell behind 1-3, and they were close to being eliminated, and under the leadership of Bird, the Celtics did not lose this game. In the fifth game, Bird played 32 minutes to contribute 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, helping the Celtics to win by 2 points, and in the sixth game, Bird played 46 minutes, contributing 25 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, helping the Celtics equalize the big score, the two sides returned to the same running line, the seventh game, the two sides are you and me, it is difficult to win or lose, Bird contributed 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks, leading the Celtics to a small victory over the 76ers by 1 point, completing a 1-3 big reversal and advancing to the Finals , face the Rockets.
Bird played almost perfect performances in three consecutive games, which is really incredible, and after the Finals, Bird suddenly lost power, played very generally in the third, fourth, and fifth games, if it wasn't for teammate Maxwell playing well, the Celtics might have fallen behind 1-3, after three games of power outage, Bird recovered his form, cut 27 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists in the sixth game, leading the Celtics to beat the Rockets by a big score of 4-2, and successfully won the championship. This was Bird's first championship in the NBA, but Bird missed the FMVP because of his poor performance in the Finals.
In the next two seasons, Bird's performance was very good, but the Celtics failed to win the championship in the playoffs, and in the 83-84 season, Bird led the Celtics to make a comeback, and Bird played a very good performance in the regular season. Averaging 24.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, the Celtics have a record of 62 wins and 20 losses, and in the MVP selection, Bird's performance is outstanding, and the Celtics' record is so good, Bird has no doubt been elected MVP, which is Bird's first MVP in the NBA.
After the playoffs began, Bird led the Celtics to the championship, and in the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics won the bullets without bloodshed and advanced to the second round against the Knicks. At this time, the Knicks are not a weak team, very capable, very tough, after the Celtics won two consecutive games, the Knicks returned to two games, after losing the Battle of King Mountain, and tenaciously won the sixth game, dragging the series into the seventh. Bird showed his league superstar strength in the seventh, playing 42 minutes, contributing 39 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals in the big triple-doubles, leading the Celtics human Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Celtics vs Bucks, Bird twice contributed 30+10+5 performances in the series, leading the Celtics to win the Bucks 4-1 and advance to the Finals.
The opponent of the Celtic Finals is the Lakers, the Lakers are the old opponents of the Celtics, and the Lakers' main player Magic Johnson is The old opponent of Bird, when in college, the two had a final battle, Bird lost, sad for a long time, now the opportunity for revenge is coming, Bird this competitive person, how to let go, he played the spirit, in the best state to meet the Lakers.
Celtics are strong, the Lakers are not weak, the two sides alternately lead, the series came to the Battle of Tianwangshan, the Battle of Tianwangshan, Bird performance exploded, 20 shots 15, only by free throws to get 2 points, the whole game cut 34 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, leading the Celtics to win the Lakers, but the Lakers adjusted quickly, the sixth Game Bird 11 shots 8, contributed 28 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists did not lead the team to win, the series entered the seventh. In the seventh, Bird contributed 20 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block to help the Celtics win with a 9-point advantage, and with a big score of 4-3, they beat the Lakers with difficulty and won the championship, and Bird was elected FMVP.
Bird unlocked a new achievement, that is, to win the MVP, win the championship, was elected FMVP, and Bird became one of the few players to unlock this achievement, but this is not great enough. In the 84-85 season, Bird averaged 28.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.2 blocks per game in the regular season, filling the data column, and leading the Celtics to the league's best record of 63 wins and 19 losses, and embarked on a defensive journey with their heads held high, but the results were not unsatisfactory, and the Celtics lost to the Lakers in the Finals and lost the defense.
In the 85-86 season, the Celtics regained their strength under Bird, Who was in good shape, averaging 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2 steals per game, and the Celtics' chemistry was also particularly good.
At the end of the regular season, the Celtics' record was 67 wins and 15 losses, the league's best record, in the MVP selection, Bird once again performed and recorded superior, the third time in his career, but also the third consecutive year to win the MVP, completed three consecutive MVP.
Prior to this, only Russell and Chamberlain each completed a three-game MVP, Bird is the third player in NBA history to complete a three-game MVP, and Bird, who is at his peak, has reached another peak and completed achievements that are difficult for future generations to reach. In the 85-86 playoffs, Bird led the Celtics to a high speed, the Eastern Teams could not stop their steps, on the way to the championship, the Celtics had 7 games to win at least 16 points, in the Finals, Bird averaged 24 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game, the Celtics defeated the Rockets 4-2 to win the championship.
In the 86-87 season, Bird averaged 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, but in the Finals, Bird was surrounded by the Lakers, and he played his worst performance against the Lakers in the Finals, and the Celtics failed to win the championship. From this point on, teammates can give Bird less help, Bird burden is heavier, 87-88 season, Bird in the regular season averaged 29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, the three shooting rates added up to more than 180, Bird entered the "180 Club", in the league, Bird ranked third in the scoring list, steals ranked thirteenth, rebounds ranked eighteenth, in the three rankings, Bird all ranked in the top twenty, this is the peak Bird's strength.
In the playoffs, Bird played against Wilkins in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and in the fourth quarter, Bird cut 20 alone to help the Celtics win the game, and finally won the series, leading the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals, but against the upstart Pistons, the Celtics did not have the advantage in the situation, and Bird could not open the defense line of the "Bad Boy Army", and finally stopped in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the 88-89 season, Bird was reimbursed for receiving surgery to remove bone spurs from both feet after playing six games, in other words, Bird played a lot of games with bone spurs.
In the 89-90 season, Bird returned to the game, in good shape, but Bird could not change the trend, the Celtics declined, became a strong team in the East, unable to compete for the championship, 90-91 season, the back found Bird, and Bird's back from him into the NBA, there are some problems, with the year after year of conquest, the injury is getting more and more serious, in this season broke out, this season, Bird missed 22 games, 91-92 season, Bird missed 37 games, Bird in order to return to the game, received treatment But the results were not good, the back injury did not improve, and for Bird, leaving the field was already a matter of immediate time.
In the summer of '92, after following the U.S. men's basketball team to win the Olympic gold medal, Bird announced his retirement. Bird has only played in the NBA for 13 years because of injury, not for a long time, but in these 13 years, Bird's achievements are very large, he has three championship rings, three MVPs, two FMVPs, an AMVP, nine times selected to the Best Team First Team, three times selected for the Best Defensive Team Second Team, eleven times selected as an All-Star, of which three consecutive Johnson MVP, so far no one has done it, Bird in this short 13 years, burst out of the extremely dazzling light, his NBA career can be called great.
Write at the end
After Bird retired, he had the stadium in mind, served as the Pacers' coach in '97, and led the Pacers to a fierce battle with the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals for 7 games, in the post-Reggie Miller era, Bird, as the president of the Pacers, made a reconstruction plan, the Pacers were able to rise briefly and become a strong team in the East, and after the physical condition did not allow, Bird resigned and went home to retire.
Bird's life has a close relationship with basketball, when he was a player, he called the wind and rain on the court, led the Celtics to create brilliance, when he was a coach, he strategized on the sidelines, let the team go to the right path, when he was president, he had a long-term vision, let the team rise again, Bird was a player born for basketball, he was proficient in basketball, in the history of the NBA, Bird is a figure that cannot be bypassed, the NBA has achieved him, and he has changed the NBA. Bird is 65 years old this year and wishes him good health.