So, what happened to #built not bought?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Horry Hipcheck

It should be noted that the Spurs didn't just throw money at Aldridge. The Spurs have carefully built a culture of team basketball these last 20 years, and a belief in a system that doesn't try and fill a roster with big name stars year in and year out. The Spurs have let Pop develop his role players, and in turn they've rewarded him and the franchise with loyalty (Danny Green, the most glaring and recent example of this). The Spurs draft well, they cultivate no-name talent to function in the system, and they've constructed an empire of intelligent players that are loyal to a coach and a front office that has no interest in superstar divas to try and sell tickets. The Miami Heat had no such culture. Dallas has no such culture, the Clippers have no such culture, and any Celtics fan should come to grips with the reality that a substantial number of their franchise's titles came when the league was a fucking THIRD of the size it is now. Aldridge WANTED to come here. West threw away TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS to come here. That's not "bought". That's a proven champion franchise offering the chance for talented FAs to go all-in on Pop's system and try to win.

I get it, fans of teams that drift in and out of contention are a little salty because Spurs fans have had their cake and been able to eat it, too, for much of the last two decades. It's been a long time since a franchise so showered a fanbase in consistency and competitiveness, and the SA community has come to expect it. This was the biggest splash the Spurs have made in free agency in their entire history, and it ONLY happened because of what PATFO built.

Agree with all of this, tbh.