Need Some Cheese? NBA Players Must Quit Whining

The NBA's current public persona isn't exactly the greatest of the four major sports.

The Tim Donaghy betting scandal has shed a negative light on the league, although it's been mostly back-page news. The drug problems that plague baseball and football aren't as much of a problem in the NBA, but the maturity of its players is becoming a growing concern on the court.

The adrenaline rushes in an NBA game must be unbelievable for these players. Superstars and bench warmers alike seem to be entranced with the competition on the court. However, enough is enough.

It seems now that 98 percent of foul calls are wrong in terms of the players, and each one is greeted with wide eyes and hands-in-the air expressions. The moaning and groaning has become especially bad in the playoffs, with the thirst of competition at its highest level.

During David Stern's two-week-or-so period of rule changes to sharpen the league's image last season, he stated that players disagreeing with referees is natural, but that they do not need to throw a temper tantrum each time the whistle is blown.

This has apparently been ignored, as players of all teams have taken to berating referees each time they miss or make a shot that was contested. These instances have even been taking place more and more while the clock is running.

The NBA may be the league whose players are most well-known just by their faces. They are a part of the only major sport in the country that doesn't have to cover their faces or heads while competing, adding to the commercial industry of the league.

NBA players are the most well-known athletes in the country as a whole, and the examples they set are highly scrutinized both on and off the court.

"Good guys" such as Tim Duncan and Steve Nash are notorious crybabies. Watch the Spurs and Suns play, and they will disagree with almost every call, creating negative images for the casual fans of the NBA who know these future Hall of Famers to be good people and great players.

Now, these are not the only two players who moan and groan about lack of refereeing or too much of it, but they are some of the most successful players in the league, with two MVP awards each. MVPs are the face of the league, and these players are known as leaders in the NBA and communities in which they play.

Possibly the most annoying and immature on-court player in NBA history is Rasheed Wallace. Seeing him in person is like seeing an episode of South Park.

I've heard him say choice phrases I can't repeat for fear of getting shunned by the editors of this website. It almost appears that he loves b-tching about every call, as he has said publicly that he strives on playing with emotion.

Emotion is one thing, but expressing it negatively is getting older than Dikembe Mutombo; fans of this great league deserve more.