Lakers' LeBron James advised to follow Heat's Chris Bosh, Cavs' Kevin Love championship blueprint

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the hottest teams in basketball right now, riding an eight-game winning streak behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The Lakers are starting to look like legitimate contenders, which aligns with LeBron James' wishes.

"LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Rich Paul told ESPN. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career."

James has begun to settle into his role as a third option, a transition similar to what some of his former teammates embraced in M iami and Cleveland. Those players—who thrived in that role—also became champions.

"Bosh did it for the Heat. The two-time champion lessened his offensive load, and molded himself from more of a power forward to someone who could be the team's starting center. The latter helped create more spacing for a version of LeBron who was at the peak of his athletic powers to punish teams inside. Dwyane Wade was allowed to comfortably operate as the second star," Lake Show Life's Svyatoslav Rovenchuk wrote. "Love did it for the Cavaliers. The offensive powerhouse was a tremendous inside scorer and post-up artist during his days with the Minnesota Timber wolves. During the era in which he overlapped with James in Cleveland, Love took nearly 44 percent of his shots from 3-point land to better fit with his superstar player. By contrast, that number was closer to 23 percent in Minnesota."

James is obviously his own player, but if he follows the blueprint of former teammates like Chris Bosh and Kevin Love, the Lakers could be very successful in the playoffs. James has made it clear that he understands his role now.

Los Angeles is starting to look dangerous heading into the postseason, and if James can channel elements of Bosh or Love, the Lakers could become a nightmare matchup. This is exactly what the team needs—and if James fully embraces it, there should be no hesitation moving forward.

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