There was symmetry everywhere you looked, almost too much for the moment to feel real.
If you squinted, you could see a 24-year-old Usman Khawaja in the middle of the SCG, thrust into a debut Test in a broken team en route to the anomaly that was the 2010/11 Ashes defeat.
At the same time, you may have been able to see a 31-year-old Khawaja, seemingly now the complete batter, joining forces with the untouchable Steve Smith as the pair put the 2017/18 Ashes to bed.
Hell, in the right light and at the right angle there may have even been a glimpse of Steve Waugh in 2003, as the crowd roared for singles to get their hero on strike for a century in a session's dying embers.
It all felt a bit familiar and yet still so uniquely special as Khawaja, belatedly and beautifully Australian cricket's sweetheart, completed his ninth Test century before tea on day two at the SCG.
Khawaja has made more thrilling Test hundreds and he has made more important Test hundreds, but this ought to stand as his masterpiece.
It was a cricketer and a person completely at ease with himself, confident in what he is and unconcerned by what he isn't. Nothing was forced, but everything was earned.
You could say the same of Khawaja the man, and it's fitting that the maturation and self-discovery that has brought about his late-career renaissance has also made him one of the most likeable members of the squad.
He gives open and eloquent interviews, and speaks of race and inclusion and religion with sincere leadership. He will also dance with the crowd on the Adelaide Oval boundary if the right track happens to be playing.
He's a father now, soon to be of two, and a quick scroll of his Instagram account shows just how significantly his priorities have shifted.
All of which is to say Usman Khawaja, the cricketer or the man, didn't need today. Not really.
He's no longer desperately scrapping for a sniff of the Test team, and letting runs and results rule all.
Had Travis Head not got COVID and Khawaja continued running drinks for the rest of summer, his outlook on life and cricket likely would not have changed. He would still be respected and admired, and his Test prospects would have remained just as solid.
But like the man whose celebration he nabbed, LeBron James, Khawaja has a flair for the dramatic. When opportunity knocked, we were never likely to get anything other than a show.
Ussie's example one to follow
The self-assuredness of Khawaja stood in stark contrast to a number of his teammates and opponents at the SCG.
Cameron Green is the best example. The young man who has come to the crease in Test arenas this series is unrecognisable from the one who has torn Shield attacks to shreds for the last few summers.
Unlike Khawaja, Green isn't sure what he is yet. He's perhaps not completely convinced he belongs. Drastic technical shifts between Tests suggests he's more concerned with fixing weaknesses than playing to his strengths.
For all the talk of Green's startling physical attributes, his final and greatest challenge will be mental. Just as it was for Khawaja, and just as it is for most precocious young talents in any sport.
And then there's England, viewed here as an entirely bewildering entity.
Just what this cricket team is trying to achieve at any given moment is a mystery. What's the plan for Jack Leach? Why the habitual lack of intensity for the first three hours of every day? What is the point of any of this?
How it must stick in the craw that Australia can bring Khawaja off the bench to such immediate effect, just like Scott Boland, Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser before him.
England doesn't have that depth of class to call on, and has compensated by overthinking and second-guessing themselves.
The only other cricketer to reach Khawaja's level on the day was Stuart Broad, who took five excellent wickets with the same tried and true formula that has worked for 151 Tests. That he should be playing his 153rd right now speaks to England's wider malaise.
But there were few inside the SCG feeling much sympathy for the beleaguered tourists on this day. They came to watch Khawaja and they left well satisfied.
Whatever comes next for Usman Khawaja, he'll always be able to cherish the day the entire country paused to celebrate everything he is.
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