It is not uncommon, when referring to sports, to hear that you "can't win a championship with a bunch of superstars" because of team chemistry issues. Egos often collide, causing turbulence among players and coaches.

Most successful NBA champions in the past revolved around one star player and solid role players who contributed nightly. Look at the San Antonio Spurs last year – other than Tim Duncan, there was no true superstar. That Spurs team was not flashy, but rather consisted of defensive minded players with a strong sense of fundamentals. This year's NBA Champion Celtics force us to question this logic.

When Danny Ainge entered last year's off-season, the future seemed bleak, and fans became skeptical of not only the team, but specifically, Paul Pierce's ability. Pierce had provided them with some great moments over the years, but no single moment truly defined his career. Pierce was always one of the better players in the league, but without a championship he did not stand out.

However, Danny Ainge changed all that. He made key aggressive moves during the off-season, acquiring superstar Kevin Garnett and sharpshooter Ray Allen. I, along with others, questioned the thought process behind throwing three superstars together in one lineup. 

The first thought that came to mind was: How are these three stars going to split up the points? The recent USA Olympic basketball teams, consisting of the best players in the world, had little success against European and South American teams. One would think that a team consisting of players like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Carmello Anthony and Dwayne Wade would be dominant, but the team struggled. It seemed as though Garnett, Allen and Pierce would have the same struggles. 

Yet, throughout the season, the Boston Three-Party began to develop great team chemistry, along with many veteran role players such as PJ Brown and James Posey. Pierce had now been provided with the tools necessary to compete for the Celtics 17th NBA title. The three egos did not collide, but rather combined to create the team with the best record in the NBA regular season.

With Allen's shooting, Garnett's low post presence and Pierce's all around ability, Doc Rivers had emerged from Town Idiot to pure genius. As much as Doc may have stressed defense, this year's Celtics team proved that great players make great teams. Rivers could have stressed defense as much as he wanted, but without players like Pierce, Allen and Garnett, the team would not have experienced the same success that brought them the glory of an NBA title.

Perhaps this year's champion provides the rest of the NBA owners with a prime example of great players adapting to a system to make a great team. Some claim that a coach should pick players simply for his system, but the better approach seems to be: sign the best players available, and they will adapt to your system.

Although a great team, it is almost impossible to envision Pierce holding the trophy without Allen and Garnett around him. So although Rivers may have claimed, "Money can buy everything except a championship...," Ainge's off-season spending consisted of: "Buy three superstars and get an NBA title free."