There is, of course, a world where the Summer of LeBron isn’t simply a curiosity to the basketball citizens of New York City but a legit, full-on, full-blown, will-he-or-won’t-he obsession.

There is, of course, a world where these coming days and weeks would be the final stages to a whirlwind demo/reno project whose ultimate success might’ve actually rested on the whims of LeBron James’ preening proclivities and attention starvation.

It is, of course, easy to identify when those sliding doors actually slid.

Let us go back to the afternoon of Friday, April 24. The Knicks trail the Hawks, two games to one, in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. They have lost back-to-back gut-punches by a point apiece. Back in New York, the sky is fixing to shatter into a million pieces and rain on Gotham.