One of the greatest things about watching NBA players do superhuman things on the court is being reminded they are human off of it.

Three superstars are missing games this week for being human. Rajon Rondo used his chest beefers as a weapon against a referee and paid the price with a one-game in-school suspension. Amar’e Stoudamire set fire-extinguisher rights back 20 years with blatant physical abuse. And now, Chris Bosh will be missing a game for the birth of his first child. (Thank god Shawn Kemp didn’t take time off for child birth or he’d have missed more games than Greg Oden.)

Each of these players has received a certain amount of backlash – Rondo and Amar’e for losing their cool in such a critical time, and Bosh for the usual jokes about him be a girl, or a dinosaur, or a girl dinosaur.

Some of that backlash is warranted. These are the playoffs and players need to be intelligent.

But would we prefer Rondo to show the same enthusiasm as Dwight Howard – lounging on his couch watching his team play on TV?

Or that Bosh was fathering a small herd of dinosaur children without his guidance? We’ve seen Jurassic Park – those fuckers are mean (I couldn’t resist).

And what about Amar’e Stoudamire? Sure, punching a fire extinguisher seems dumb – but a player taking a swing out of frustration isn’t exactly breaking new ground (or bones).

Really, the lesson Amar’e learned is that if you are going to punch something out of frustration, don’t hit something hard and sturdy like a fire extinguisher, make sure it is something soft and giving.

Like Steve Kerr’s face.

I guess that’s why Jordan will always be the greatest.