In an unnoticed corner, the 21st player of the Spurs, and the 21st player of the Timberwolves, also submitted retirement applications to the league, agreeing with their respective teams to buy out and pay the remaining salary in installments, leaving the court.
Bryant's retirement was long decided, Kevin Garnett's retirement was foreseeable, Tim Duncan's retirement was unexpected.
Since 2010, there has been continuous media speculation about Duncan's retirement, but each time he brought fans surprise again, and this time, just after the Spurs had their best overall offensive and defensive performance in team history, people thought Duncan was setting sail again when he suddenly ended his career.
The era's superstar batch of giants, who dominated the basketball world for about 20 years since the '96 Golden era, stopped writing the era's chapter the moment the microphone fell from Bryant's hand, officially becoming a part of basketball history.
