Larry Bird went through 5 hours of back fusion surgery for his sciatica, a back pain that ultimately ended his career. Bird was 36 at the time and had spent the last few years of his career dealing with persistent back pain. In the 1991 season, he missed a lot of time with a compressed nerve root in his back. Although he tried to remove a disk from his back through surgery, he continued to feel pain. He missed even more time the following season, missing 37 games compared to 22 the season prior. He also missed 4 of the 7 Eastern Conference Semifinals games against the Cavaliers. Despite his pain he still traveled to the Olympics as part of the 1992 Dream Team that went on to win Gold for the USA. The sharpshooter announced his retirement on August 18, 1992 after the Olympics ended.