Kershaw, Kopitar announces retirement on same day, ending eras in Los Angeles

On a seismic day in Los Angeles sports history, two franchise legends, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Kings captain Anze Kopitar, declared their retirements on September 18, 2025, and two historic, single-franchise careers came to an end.

This season will be the end of 18 years of the Hall of Fame career of Kershaw. 

The left-hander has been a three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, won the World Series in 2020 and will play his last regular season game before assisting the team in reaching its playoffs.

The 37-year-old's career is characterized by distant supremacy, such as more than 3,000 strikeouts and the esteem of having one of the smartest competitors in the game.

Kopitar, 38, announced in the town that the 2025-26 season in the NHL will be his final season.

The captain of the Kings for 10 years, his 20-year history marked by two Stanley Cups, two Selke Trophies, and the record of being the all-time leader in franchise’s history, in terms of games played and assists.

He sets out on his farewell tour only 29 points short of being the all-time leading scorer of the Kings.

Their declaration at the same time was a ripple effect of tributes across the world of sport, which echoed an uncommon period of long life and loyalty.

The generation of LA fans was defined by Kershaw, the consistent pitcher on the hill and Kopitar, the two-way enigma on the ice, with careers that were parallel to each other over twenty years before it ended on one memorable day.