What does it take to become a master?

"Bird began developing his basketball practice at age four, and never stopped practicing. After the Celtics [Bird's team] won the NBA championship in 1986, reporters asked Bird what he planned to do next. 'I've still got some things I want to work on', he was quoted as saying. 'I'll start my off-season training next week. Two hours a day with at least a hundred free throws'. Many professionals take some of the summer off, but not Larry Bird. He runs for conditioning, up and down the steepest hills he can find. On the blacktop court with glass backboard at home in French Lick, Indiana, he practices.
During his years with the Celtics, Bird was known for getting on the court an hour or two before everyone else to practice his shots - foul shots, fall-away shots, three-pointers, shots from all sorts of angles. Sometimes, just for fun, he would sit on the sideline and pop them in, or find a seat in the first row and float them in.
No question, Bird likes to win. Still, according to his agent Bob Woolf, that's not the main reason he practices so diligently and playes so whole-heartedly. 'He does it just to enjoy himself. Not to make money, to get acclaim, to gain stature. He just loves to play basketball' ". [my bold]

Excerpt from the book Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, by George Leonard (Penguin Books, 1992).