Sometimes you're the bug and sometimes you're the windshield. If you're LeBron James you apparently can be both in a span of 16 hours.
Having announced Sunday night that he would leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time in his career - this time to join the Los Angeles Lakers, which immediately prompted some folks to label him LA-Bron - James awoke Monday morning to find out the 10-story billboard of him wearing a Cavs jersey on the side of a Cleveland building is expected to be removed by Nike later this week.
Yet whatever hurt or anger that might have caused the northeast Ohio native probably was quickly softened by news that preorders for James Laker jerseys through retailer Fanatics were 600 percent higher than they had been four years ago when King James returned to Cleveland from Miami.
And given that fact, the reported four-year, $153 million contract James is expected to sign with the Lakers on Friday quite possibly could be dwarfed by such endorsement deals, which already are reported to be worth at least $52 million annually. Talk about the rich getting richer.
Not that we haven't seen this before from the Lakers, this poaching of otherworldly talent from other franchises, which always previously has led to world championships. It happened when Wilt Chamberlain left the Philadelphia 76ers for L.A. in 1968, the Purple and Gold winning the NBA title at the close of the 1971-72 season.
It happened with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who left Milwaukee for the Left Coast in the mid-70s, eventually winning five NBA crowns with more than a little help from Magic Johnson.
Then it happened again with the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal from Orlando prior to the 1996-97 season, the Big Aristotle - as O'Neal sometimes called himself - eventually winning three straight titles with the Lakers.
But can history four-peat with the best active player on the planet now a Laker? Especially when the team has missed the playoffs each of the past five seasons?
None other than Kobe Bryant, O'Neal's sometimes testy teammate on that L.A. championship run, told ESPN on Monday: "With LeBron on this roster, I don't think it will be much of an issue to make the playoffs. The dreams are substantially bigger now."
Eventually, it won't be just LeBron, of course. The Lakers apparently have lured veteran point guard Rajon Rondo away from the New Orleans Pelicans, a move that should pay immediate dividends both on and off the court, since Rondo can tutor second-year point guard Lonzo Ball. (Now if Rondo could only make Lonzo's dad LaVar disappear.)
Then there's the plan to ink Southern California native Kawhi Leonard, the NBA's fiercest defender desperately wanting out of San Antonio. That might not happen this year, but Leonard's options for spurning the Spurs are even better next year if that organization really wants to force him to wait that long.
There's also the possibility that Golden State's Klay Thompson - whose father Mychal once played for the Lakers - could exit the Warriors after next season. Two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant might also one day opt out of Golden State, though that's less certain.
Regardless, as Bryant noted, "For other players around the league, I think it has pushed the Lakers front and center again (as a destination point)."
Or as ESPN NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski observed: "This is a seismic shift in the league, the best player in the NBA going from East to West. (And) the idea of Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James both being on the Lakers sends tremors through the NBA."
Nothing is guaranteed, of course. James will be 34 next season. If the Lakers don't land a second superstar before next season on the order of Leonard, there's no way the Purple and Gold is instantly adding to its 16 NBA titles, second most to the Boston Celtics' 17. Not with Golden State constructed as it is today and Boston strongly positioned again to become the Beast of the East.
That said, the Lakers once more matter. Much. Or as Bryant also told ESPN with words surely mouthed at NBA headquarters: "The league tends to do better when the Lakers and Boston are in contention."
If nothing else, it makes what's said by the Lakers' famous front-row celebrities more entertaining.
After all, not long after King James' move was first announced, rap artist Ludacris tweeted: "Welp, my Hollywood Hills crib just went up in value. Thank you, King James."
Then there was model Christine Teigen, who's also the wife of singer John Legend. She tweeted: "Welcome to LA. Friday is sunset rosé, laser facials on Monday. The rest of the week is running into people you don't like at (the private club) soho house."
But the most truthful tweet came from actor Rob Lowe, who tweeted: "Waking up in South Africa to the news that the @Lakers are BACK! Congratulations @JeanieBuss (owner) @MagicJohnson (president). Welcome, @KingJames."
Because the Lakers are indeed back. With a vengeance. At least as long as LA-Bron can tolerate Monday laser facials and running into all those people he might not like at Soho House.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com