Most irreplaceable player in sports currently

[PHX]

This came to mind after Peyton Manning had yet another surgery on his neck and seems like he could be out for the year. That team leans on him more than any other team leans on their star player due to the things he does for the offense which is pretty much run everything about it. So he'd be my choice but who would you say in all of sports is the most irreplaceable player in today's sports and why?

 

[No More Sorrow]

I was going to say Peyton Manning, i mean he's the leader of that team and without him that team is going to be lost. But if i had to choose somebody else i'd say Ray Lewis he brings so much Intensity to the Raven's. He's been the leader of that defense for years now and honestly, i couldn't picture The Ravens without him on D. If there weren’t a Ray Lewis in the Ravens team, the Ravens would not be the same. His personality and love for the game of football makes him the heart of The Ravens.

 

[The Boondocks]

I'm gonna be the guy who jumps from football to a different sport. To me, LeBron James is the most irreplaceable. Sure, the Heat have bench players who come in and play for him, and they did deal with him getting hurt, but after Shaq left Miami, they plateaued. The Heat did make the playoffs a majority of the time after their first ring, but they went nowhere. James comes and the Heat have a big 3, and they make it to the Finals. Sure they didn't win, because 'Bron choked, but they wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for him. Look at it this way. If he was gone, the heat would still be getting 35+ from Wade, 10-20 from Bosh, and 45-50 from the rest of the team. They would probably be first round losers, and be right back where they were before LeBron came to town.

 

[Reid]

I'd go with Peyton. Maybe Brady now that their defense sucks and they only got one good receiver with no deep threat.

 

[MrMister]

The QB is the single most important player in all of sports as I know it so yeah Peyton Manning is your answer. Brady works too. That team would be in similar shape without him.

 

[PHX]

I thought that about Brady until you go back and remember the year where he was out for the year and Cassel took over and that team still got 11 wins. That doesn't make Brady any less amazing but does show me that the Pats team is coached so well that they could still be effective without Brady because of their system. Colts can't do a damn thing without Peyton because the whole system is for him and only him.

 

[MrMister]

Better defense then though. This Pats D is awful save for a few players.

Still, it is shocking how bad the Colts are. However, they've lost some key defenders so that's part of it too.

 

[PHX]

I think even if they had everyone on D they still would blow like they are because that defense always weren't that good for this whole past decade Manning could just make their jobs easier letting them play with leads. Sure as hell can't play with a lead now.

 

[MrMister]

Yeah I'm not saying they would be in playoff contention or anything. They'd be a bit better than a zero win team with seemingly no chance to win any game they play.

It also shows how average Wayne and company really are too.

 

[PHX]

I always thought Wayne was a product of Manning really while I thought Marvin Harrison for example would have been great regardless. And Dallas Clark god he has just totally disappeared this year.

 

[SAIYANS]

Kobe. Why? The perimeter sucks and has sucked for years around him. If Fisher isn't hitting the guards, backup SG, and small forwars are useless for spacing and creating. LA slid past the fact for years, but last postseason when he was hobbled it was painfully obvious that the team struggled outside of Odom to create its own shots. In fact an interesting stat that came up was that Pau shot 43% unassisted in the paint and over 54% assisted, while Drew was 48 unassisted and over 55 assisted. They needed him to draw defenders and dish to get the bigs off which he has shown to be able to do in his career, and when he can't teams just sit in a zone and say fuck it you guys can't shoot or penetrate. Hopefully the stem cell knee surgery works and Fisher regains his touch or they find a reliable shooter. Blakenand Brown just disappeared halfway through the year. And as for Farmar, Rambis said it best when he said the assitant coaches made a joking bet over Who would strangle him first with his attitude.

If you really think about it, Fisher has probably been the best and most consistent perimeter player Kobe has had beside him since he became a full time starter in 99. Fox was all defense and I loved him but he wasn't a scorer. George never panned out. Ariza had a 3 month hot spell like Sasha. Luke got paid and then got a AARP card. Carin and him only play a small sample together. Radmanovic went snowboarding during an all star break and permanently hurt his shoulder and touch. Artest had game 7 which I'll always love him for, but as he so aptly put it he has shot more air balls, clanked more threes, missed more dunks, and dribbled off his legs more in la than any other place in his career. Barnes looked good and then got hurt and never recovered, soothe jury is out. Lue well he just sucked. Payton flamed out big time in the playoffs when he had to play inthe system. Richmond and Hunter both had a foot in the grave when LA got them. Shaw and Harper were nice but had short shelf life.

Oh how I wish LA could find perimeter talent and would have just given up Bynum for fucking Melo, but Jimmy loves the guy. Hell I would have given up Pau in all honesty, one or the other doesn't matter since Odom is by far the best PF on the roster and those two play better with him than with one another 9/10 times

 

[LaBrandon Aldridge]

Kobe sucks.

 

[PHX]

If you take Kobe off the Lakers they'd still be a playoff team regardless. Top team probably not but I don't see them totally shutting down with him in comparison to a guy like Peyton with the Colts who are totally built around him. In terms of NBA Lebron when he was with the Cavs is probably the only thing that could match up Colts without Peyton since they went from title contender every year to being in the lottery.

 

[SAIYANS]

If you take Kobe off the Lakers they'd still be a playoff team regardless. Top team probably not but I don't see them totally shutting down with him in comparison to a guy like Peyton with the Colts who are totally built around him. In terms of NBA Lebron when he was with the Cavs is probably the only thing that could match up Colts without Peyton since they went from title contender every year to being in the lottery.

Who gets the bigs the ball? As much as Pau may moan, he bitched equally loud in the year Kobe missed games (the season before last) about not getting his touches like he was used to from Ron, Derek, Shannon, Jordan, and Sasha because Kobe feeds the post the most by far of the 1, 2, and 3's on the team. The only guy who can guaranteed get his without being reliant on being fed is Odom because he is a hybrid.

You would also have to tell me how they account for shot attempts as Pau takes the same amount he took in Memphis as a first option @ 14 (his max for his career). Is it Bynum? We know Odom won't because he didn't when it was him and Kobe for years, instead he and Luke/Mihm shared option 2 on a night to night basis.

You also have to tell me who accounts for the scoring that they need to offset the games Bynum misses as Kobe sees his scoring rise whenever he is hobbled to offset the production loss, while Pau stays at 19 and 10 basically.

Kobe is more important from the perimeter for his team than Nash, Parker, and a number of other players not named Rose because they have squat for actual creators aside from Odom who has to be the main backup big to both guys or starting PF when one is out. Who actually creates for the others and gets them shots for a full year to make the playoffs, when stats show every member of the core shoot and finish better with him. And if you say Ron, I'll come to Phoenix and smack you for even wishing that sight upon my eyes of him trying to be the main perimeter guy

 

[PHX]

I'm not saying Kobe isn't one of the most irreplaceable players in the NBA and in sports but he surely is not the most valuable in ALL of sports and in the NBA it's very debatable. Yeah Kobe helps his teams in multiple ways but do you really think without him they would be a team that would go from title contender to the lottery? Without Kobe they'd probably would be a straight up pound it inside team having someone like Blake who is very average but serviceable feeding the big guys the ball or do a point forward deal with Lamar. They obviously wouldn't be as good doing that but they'd still be in the playoff picture. Now if you take someone like Rose away from the Bulls they'd probably win about 30 games as they lean on him so much to do almost everything for them.

Then if you wanna bring up Nash without him they don't know what the fuck to do to the point it is sad to watch. Frye can't do shit without him, Gortat becomes useless on offense, J-Rich when he was on the Suns looked like an all star playing with Nash and without him couldn't do a damn thing. So those are a few guys I say are more irreplaceable as far as what they do for their teams and what they can't do without them.