Bird, Larryin full Larry Joe Bird  ( born Dec. December 7, 1956
, West Baden, Ind.Indiana, U.S.American basketball player who
led the Boston Celtics 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 raised in
French Lick, Ind.Indiana, and attended Indiana State University,
where he helped revive the basketball program and led the team
to a 33–1 record in his senior season. That season ended with a
loss to Michigan State University in the NCAA championship game
(1979), which was the first meeting of Bird and Magic Johnson, a
rivalry that would become the centrepiece of the NBA’s
popularization during the 1980s. Bird was drafted by the Boston
Celtics after his junior year at Indiana State (1978) but did
not play professionally until the 1979–80 season, when he won
the Rookie of the Year award after contributing to one of the
largest single-season turnarounds in NBA history (a 32-win
improvement).  Over t