Winning a championship is great. It doesn’t matter how it happens. After all — flags fly forever, right? So, bringing in the greatest player in your sport and surrounding him with his hand-picked teammates is great (right, Lakers fans?). Spending more money than some small nations and adding a MVP candidate in a lopsided deal is also perfectly acceptable (right, Dodgers fans?).
Still, there is something about winning a title with a core group of players that have known heartbreak, and with a management team that resisted the temptation of blowing up that core after repeated failures that makes it just a little bit sweeter.