It was midway through the first quarter of LeBron James' first preseason game with the Los Angeles Lakers when Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap used a drop step to elude the newly minted purple-and-gold paragon and loft the ball through the net.
Rather than dwell on his failed defensive execution, James immediately shifted his sights toward the other end of the court and sprinted up the left wing to catch an outlet pass that Rajon Rondo zipped to near midcourt. It was an inbounds pass thrown in such haste that Rondo didn't even bother dragging both feet out of bounds before he delivered it, floating one of his size-13 sneaks over the painted S in "America's Finest City" that decorates the baseline at San Diego's Valley View Casino Center.