Commissioners of professional sports leagues are by nature placed in a tricky predicament. They have to maintain the integrity of their sport while placating fans and players who don't necessarily have the same motivations.

The NBA has made it clear this year that players arguing with referees over fouls will not be tolerated. I can't say that I have a big problem with this, as it had become almost comical the amount of protesting done by players who draw a ref's whistle. Well intentioned rules can suffer from faulty implementation though. For instance: Charlotte Bobcats Stephen Jackson was fined $50,000 by the NBA for making inappropriate comments towards the officials after the game.

The tricky part about this whole situation was that Jackson was actually walking off the court and making comments apparently to himself. The game was over, the player was walking off the court and apparently made comments without engaging a particular person- talking to himself, really- and loses $50,000?  Heavy-handed is an understatement.

Players like Jackson who frequently draw technical fouls for throwing tantrums have drawn my ire in the past and I'm all for doing something to end it, but 50 grand for talking to yourself is a bit harsh.

Both Jackson and head coach Larry Brown have been reported as saying that the league must have been reading his lips because he really wasn't addressing anyone in particular. If that is true, the punishment truly does not fit the crime.

Athletes- good ones, anyway- are an emotional sort. They care about every contest and to lose a game when calls are questionable can be exceptionally frustrating. If players can't mutter to themselves for fear of a camera catching their lips moving, is that really the kind of league commissioner David Stern wants to promote?

Again, I'm all for stopping the ridiculous behavior that usually ends up in technical fouls, but once the game is over if the player does not approach and verbally accost a referee, what's the harm?

Life is not black and white, nor should this rule be. Lord knows if I got fined for every time I expressed my displeasure with something at my place of employment, I'd be living on the street. I applaud the NBA for trying to make professional basketball just that: professional.

This time, however, they've gone a bit too far.