Sue Bird's Passion For Basketball

“We Got Next”. This phrase is most commonly used around the asphalt when vying to play the next game of pick up basketball. Founded on April 24, 1996, the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women’s National Basketball Association. The Women’s National Basketball Association is the most prevalently known professional basketball league in the United States for women, most commonly referred to as its’ acronym WNBA. It was finally the ladies’ turn as they made their statement that they would be playing the next game. The first season for the Women’s National Basketball Association began in 1997. Sheryl Swoopes, one of the league’s first sixteen players, was the first player signed by the WNBA on October 23, 1996. She signed with the Houston Comets, one of the eight teams in the

Jordan burst into the league as a rookie sensation scoring in droves with an unmatchable first step and acrobatic drives and dunks and concluded his career as a cultural icon. Hard work, dedication, and the desire

Most people know him as an 11 time NBA Champion, 5 time MVP, 12-time All-Star and he were the centerpieces of the Celtics dynasty during his 13-year career. Bill Russell ended up as the most successful player in the history of the NBA and formed the centerpiece of the greatest dynasty in the history of the league. For his accomplishments in the Civil Rights Movement on and off the court, Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Bill was outstanding at everything he ever put his mind to. For all that he accomplished on and off the field, Bill Russell is definitely one of the all-time great players of Basketball.

On April 24, 1996, women’s basketball announced “We Got Next” as the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) to begin in June 1997. Since that day in 1996 there have been many firsts for the WNBA: Val Ackerman -- the first president of the WNBA; Sheryl Swoopes -- the first player signed to the WNBA; Cynthia Cooper -- the league’s first Most Valuable Player; the Houston Comets -- the first WNBA Champions; Lisa Leslie -- the first WNBA player to capture all three MVP awards (regular season, All-Star and Championship) in one season.

The Boston Celtics had 29 wins the season before they drafted Bird. The team improved by 32 games to go 61-21 in Bird's first season. The main reason they won so many more games was because of Larry Bird. Bird was not just a shooter, he was also a great passer and rebounder too, which in turn made his teammates better as a whole. In his second year in the NBA, Bird and Celtics won the NBA Championship against the Houston Rockets. Larry Bird would go on to win two more championships with the Celtics. He would also win the Most Valuable Player award three times. This is what Larry Bird said after his second Most Valuable Player award, "While I was still trying to figure out how I could improve my game for the next season, I was notified that I had been selected as the league MVP for the second year in a row"(Bird and Ryan 153). Larry Bird after being in the league for seven years and winning two straight MVPs was still trying to find ways to get better. Bird proved that perseverance and dedication to the sport he loved would lead to a successful and rewarding

There is the idea that the WNBA is less exciting than the NBA due to the lack of dunking. The dunk, or the “alley-oop” (lob to the dunk) has become an intricate part of the men’s game but it is not so often used in the woman’s. While the average NBA player stands at about 6’3”, the average WNBA player is only about 5’10”. With this in mind, almost every single NBA player is able to

Jackie Joyner Kersee is one of the top female athletes in US history. Her story is inspirational. She showed that even if you do not have a lot of money you could still follow your dreams and reach your goals. Jackie was poor when she grew up but still went to school and graduated. She even went on to be in the Olympics. She is a true inspiration to all ages even if your eighty years old.

She was 75 years old, married to Colonel Aurelius Pescia Alberga, and had no children. However, she was later honored for her perseverance in changing the way that people went about sports. (They) named a baseball field named after her to show how both girls and boys could play the sport together. She was inducted into the woman’s sports hall of fame and is honored in the “Woman in baseball” exhibit. You might also find her in the Negro Leagues section in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown New York (Hubbard 26). These are all reminders of her legacy of her pursuing her dream, persevering through the hardships that she endured along the way, and proving to all people how women should be allowed to play baseball. This makes her a great role model for young girls around the

Chick King was born “Charles Gilbert King,” on November 10th, 1930 on a small farm in Paris, Tennessee. He grew up in his early life with six brothers, him being the youngest, had to outperform to make his mark. King went through Grove High School playing football and basketball; he won football awards for All-State team, All-Southern, and the All-American High school Football teams in 1949, the same year that the Grove Blue Devils

Have you ever heard of Skylar Diggins? She is amazing at basketball. Also, she has earned 14 awards so far in her career. Skylar has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. She got her degree from Mendoza’s College of Business.

American professional tennis player Serena Williams has won over Grand Slam Single titles and several Olympic gold medals. “At age American Serena and her sister Venus started playing tennis. “(A&E) Since turning pro she’s countless awards and

Their first game, of being part of the WNBA, was against Detroit. It was in 1999 and 12,000 fans came to watch. in 2003, they went to the playoffs for the first time. They won their first game in the playoffs with a 21 point comeback. A game in 2006 against Connecticut, they lost, but a rookie, Seimone Augustus, scored 21 points. At the end of that month they won against Los Angeles. The score was 114-71, the Lynx made a WNBA record with 114 points. In 2011 and 2013, they won the WNBA

After he graduated from high school, he decided to go and play for the University of North Carolina Where he was a big star and won a championship title with a last two-second shot. He was nominated player of the year. He then was drafted to the Chicago Bulls, where he had a long list of outstanding accomplishments.

Larry Bird’s coaching accolades. Larry Bird won coach of year in 1998. First person to win Most Valuable Player award and Coach of the Year award . Larry Bird led the Pacers to a 58-24 season, in his first coaching season. In 1999 and 2000, he led them to two Central Division titles. Larry Bird’s coaching philosophies. Larry Bird was strict as a coach. Larry Bird would charge 1,000 dollars for each late mistake by a player and the third late action would suspension from one game. Larry Bird stated “One thing I told my guys from the very first day of practice was if you have an open shot, you better take it, ‘cause if you don’t, you’re coming out of the game.” Larry Bird had a lot of confidence in every player on the roster in shooting, which was different because usually there would be people that were on a team just do one thing on the court and would “punish” the players if they did not shoot and have confidence by taking them out. Larry Bird coached differently than most coaches. Larry Bird let assistant coach, Rick Carlisle draw up plays for the team. This made the assistant coach job more important overall in the league and improved the knowledge of assistant coaches. Larry Bird stated ”The most important thing, I always felt, was to develop good conditioning habits” This was different then most coaches because most teams focused on shooting and fundamentals but Larry Bird believed that if you can last longer than them, then you will win. This is very

Betty made it to state volleyball in college,so k-state won state volleyball. Betty played volleyball for 4 years in college. In 2006 she graduated from k-state. After she graduated