New Year’s resolutions for the Los Angeles Lakers

1. LeBron James: Embrace change

In a lot of ways, this season is just like every other season for LeBron James.

He’s still the face of the the NBA, still the headline attraction, and still in the championship race. He’s still flirting with triple-doubles every night (25.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 10.6 assists per game), still serving as his team’s primary ball-handler and playmaker and still being ripped or revered by fickle fans and media depending on how each game plays out.

In some other ways, this season is different for LeBron.

For the first time since 2005, he’s coming off a long summer thanks to his team missing the playoffs. For the first time in his career, he is not his team’s leading scorer. For the first time in his career, he is leading the NBA in assists and averaging 10-plus dimes per game. For the first time as a pro, he is officially listed at point guard.

For the first time since 2011, LeBron might not be the best player on his team.

Back then, he played with a prime and healthy Dwyane Wade in Miami. Now it’s Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis who could reasonably supplant LeBron on the mythical “best player in the world” chart.

LeBron is just like the two legends he is compared to most often — Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan — in that there has been a widely accepted blueprint for the ideal other half of any superstar tandem that includes him.

For Jordan, that ideal partner was Scottie Pippen, a rangy playmaker who could be the team’s defensive linchpin while Jordan dominated as a scorer. For Kobe, he worked best with a skilled big man who could pass as well as score; a.k.a. Shaquille O’Neal or Pau Gasol.

It was long believed that the ideal teammate for LeBron was a ball-handling guard who could create their own shot and stay on the perimeter while LeBron slashed through the paint. D-Wade filled that role. Kyrie Irving filled that role. LeBron won championships with both of them.

Now it’s looking like Davis may have been the perfect partner for LeBron all along. Their outside-inside combo has been working brilliantly and has at times looked unstoppable.

It’s not what LeBron has grown accustomed to, but it may be the formula that results in LeBron capturing the elusive fourth NBA championship of his career.

If he fully embraces some changes from what has become routine, maybe a fifth and sixth ring will follow down the road.