It’s the end of an era in La La Land. Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar announced on Thursday that the 2025-26 NHL season will be the last of his career, and Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw revealed that 2025 would be his final campaign on the same day.
To celebrate Kopitar and Kershaw’s storied careers, the Kings posted a Sports Illustrated cover that featured the two stars posing together. The cover was from the fall of 2014, and the post came with a playful question.
Should we remake this, @Dodgers? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/DWjpeA75cJ
— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 19, 2025
“Should we remake this, @Dodgers?,” the caption asked.
At the time of the cover’s original release, Kopitar and the Kings were the defending Stanley Cup champs. The team’s 2014 victory over the New York Rangers granted the Jesenice native his second Stanley Cup win.
“Obviously the fact we were the first team to bring the Cup to LA, it makes it special and then following it up with another one, those are the core memories that you can’t just ignore, even when times were a bit rough and we didn’t have a very competitive team, those memories and the guys around you that you’ve won with before, are the reason to where I didn’t think about going anywhere else. Looking back at that, I made the right decision,” Kopitar told NHL.com
The given issue also included a 2014 MLB Postseason preview and highlighted Kershaw’s desire to win a ring.
At the time, Kershaw was considered one of the game’s most dominant arms. Although he had to wait until 2020 to win his first World Series, he was able to take home both the National League MVP and Cy Young in 2014.
“I think he's the greatest pitcher in this generation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told ESPN. “There's obviously a lot of great pitchers. I've just never been around a greater competitor. Very accountable, very consistent. He's made me better. And I think that we have grown together, so I feel fortunate to have been able to manage him and be around him for 10 years. He's earned this right to walk away at his choosing.”
Kopitar and Kershaw have given fans a great deal to cheer for, and they will each receive a Hollywood sendoff from the city where they’ve spent their entire careers.