One played into the final hours of the Thanksgiving weekend, laughing when a 3-pointer that would have kept his team in the game hit nothing but air.
The other stood at the same time on the sidelines on a snowy night in Denver, watching a much younger replacement help his team find a way to hand the New England Patriots their first loss of the year.
Kobe Bryant was going somewhat willingly, finally accepting that after 20 years of long nights on the hardwood neither his body nor his team were going to miraculously recover anytime in the near future.