The W’s aren’t even playing against history now. The artist (when art is properly understood) doesn’t compete against someone else. The work itself is everything. And even the natural enough backward glance to see if one is being admired is an indulgence the mature artist learns not to trip over.
Cervantes and Shakespeare wrote in the same day and age. It wasn’t a competition. Each became the artist and did the work that only he could do. And our debt is gratitude.
Basketball, of course, is different. In basketball we keep score. In order for style to become something more than an interesting difference, it must have implicit in itself and then develop the substance of achievement.