Chris Wallace's mind went blank. He wondered if he had misheard.
But when he saw the media room already in complete chaos, Wallace told himself—this was all real.
Retirement and Link—before Link had uttered those words just now, no one would ever have associated those two words with each other.
Honestly, few star players' retirement announcements had ever left reporters this shocked.
Because before they announced it, everyone could more or less guess that they were considering retirement.
Take Kobe in previous years. Though his retirement announcement had caused an enormous stir, fans and reporters had never been surprised.
After all, Kobe had reached the age when retirement was expected. Everyone had long been mentally prepared for it.
The same went for Wade, Garnett, Nowitzki, and others.
Their retirements had all caused a sensation and made people reluctant to say goodbye, but fans had never found them surprising.
But Link was different. He had only just built his second dynasty last season. He was not yet thirty-two, he was still the strongest star in the league, and he was even capable of leading his team in a bid for a fourth straight championship.
At a moment like this, no one had been remotely prepared for Link's retirement!
There had certainly been players in NBA history who retired at a young age, but most of them had not been stars. Perhaps they simply wanted to pursue better opportunities and careers outside basketball.
Then there were players like Yao Ming and Roy, who chose to retire early because of injuries. Their fans would not have been overly surprised, either.
Yet Link fit none of those circumstances!
Without any warning, at the absolute peak of his career, he had chosen to walk away.
The last player to abruptly retire at his peak was