"It was a fun moment that really reminded us of the good old days," Parker, leader of the Red Force, said after the game won by Ginobili's blue squad 56-45 in front of 15,000 rousing spectators at east Shanghai's Oriental Sports Center.

The improvisation turned out to be a surprise plotted by the two legends.

"We were at a dinner two days ago … we were just having fun and then said I should do a throwback to bring a wig or something," said a laughing Ginobili. "And we went to get a wig, which is pretty good compared to what I have in the hair, so I just wore it."

Duncan, although not making it to the event in Shanghai, joined his two pals in a retrospective on their relationship through a video message played during a break in the game.

Duncan, who was the first to retire among the super trio when he called it a career in July 2016, denied the folklore in China that his routine pats on Ginobili's head, meant to show encouragement, resulted in the Argentine's hair loss.