There are countless times when teams completely "avoid" high seeds and superstars due to upsets and what not, much less a few injuries.

Not well versed in NBA playoff brackets year to year, but I'm sure there are at least a few examples that would put the lucky Suns to shame.

Like when the Canadiens avoided playing the best team in the regular season and far more talented Avalanche with one of the top lines in hockey, due to some lucky bounces, a crybaby HC, and complete lack of officiating once the tears started flowing.
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That is not true. You take a Top 5-10 player off of a team..well good luck. The NBA more than any other league depends on its stars.
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The Raptors winning it all should have multiple asterisks after it.
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:-)

A starting QB in the NFL is BY FAR more valuable/important to the success of his team than any one player in any other sport and it's not even close. No other single player being out of a game affects Vegas odds more than an NFL team missing their starting QB.
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So is a guy like Lebron James. Look what has happened when he leaves a team, they go from championship team to 20-win lottery team. There is only like 5 guys this would really apply to in the NBA. There is probably 5-7 NFL QB's that would apply to as well.
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LeBron, Davis, Kawhi, Durant, Tatum, etc are as valuable as any QB in the NFL.
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All the while people ignore the fact that Phoenix had the second best record in the NBA. Also, no series even went seven games AND they swept Denver. Why is it a forgone conclusion that they would have lost every series if everyone would have played? They’re a damn good team!
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You take any of these players off their team they are lottery team (or at best a 8-10 seed)next season (in no particular order)

1. Lebron
2. Curry
3. Giannis
4. Jokic
5. Luka
6.Lillard
7. Kawhi
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Bullshit. Look up Vegas lines when a star NBA player misses a game vs when a QB misses one. I'm not saying they're unimportant, but it's a lot easier for NBA supporting players to step up when their leader is gone than it is for an NFL team to win with a backup QB.
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Don't you think it depends on who the team's starting QB is?

For example WFT starter is Haskins and backup is AS or Fitzmagic being the backup to Tua.
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Yes that is a good point. I'm talking about playoff caliber teams playing other playoff caliber teams in both sports.
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In the playoffs not having a player like dirk listed gives teams literally 0 chance to compete for a title.

Regular season it probably doesn’t matter as much in the NBA given the number of games, but in the POs the impact of stars are the same as QBs.

Raptors don’t win without Kawhi, Lakers don’t win without AD and LeBron, Warriors don’t win without Curry, Klay, KD, etc.
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ok then yes I would agree if an NFL team lost their starting QB for the playoffs they are probably toast because it is a 1 game elimination tournament.

In the NBA if a team lost one of the players I listed they might be able to get by for a few games or maybe a series but they won't win it all. How far they get really depends on how the team is constructed. A good example is the Clippers.
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The Suns won 1 game with AD on the court and lost 1 game with AD on the court. Beat the Lakers 2 out of 3 during the regular season. They also beat Clippers two games without their All Star Chris Paul. I say it being doubtful they'd have made it this far is being unfair to the talent/coaching they have on that team.
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I think it’s pretty unlikely that a team with a healthy LeBron and AD lose to anybody in the Western Conference. But they weren’t so why does it matter?
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