NBA basketball: It’s fantastic! Yep, it sure is. The first part of this season has been yet another action-packed, highlight-filled time for fans and players alike. Amidst the competition, there’s been a lot of traveling and countless rejections … and that’s just from the labor front.

Here we are, the first week of November, and no NBA season. The players and owners are still bickering like little children about luxury taxes, salary caps and Larry Bird exemptions. Groan.

We’ve all been down this road before with baseball, hockey and football, so why basketball? Despite being one of the highest revenue professional sports in this decade, the owners and players want more.

Isn’t it bad enough when 22-year-old Kevin Garnett, with no NBA championship or even a 20-point-per-game scoring average, gets a $121 million dollar contract based almost entirely on his potential.

Potential? For that money, I’d want an NBA championship, a scoring title every year and some Teletubbies for the kids.

We need the players back out on the court, if not only to give us fans some enjoyment and excitement, but to also keep the players away from other areas of entertainment.

We’ve already seen Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman wrestle one another at a World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view event this past summer, and even Charles Barkley is rumored to be intrigued with the idea of challenging Hollywood Hogan and the NWO in WCW sometime soon.

I love the Mailman, the Worm and Sir Charles just as much as the next fan, but these guys need to stick to their day jobs. I never wanted to see Malone or Rodman in wrestling tights hitting each other with clotheslines, powerslams or the dreaded huracanrada. I would much rather see these two battle for rebounds on the hardwood.

Then there are the movies. Gheorghe Muresan stars with Billy Crystal in “My Giant,” Shaquille O’ Neal headlines the blockbusters “Steel” and “Kazaam,” and of course, don’t forget about ‘The Spider’ John Salley as he teams with Whoopi Goldberg for the groundbreaking film about fans coaching NBA teams, “Eddie.”

I admit I liked “Space Jam,” but that was only because Bill Murray was hilarious in it. I have nothing against anyone trying to make an honest buck, but what were these guys thinking?

I really don’t know if the public was waiting for a film about a rapping genie. I know I wasn’t.

Yes, Shaq is larger than life and has a great personality, but does that make him qualified to star as Steel, a character spun from the same cloth as Superman?

Jeez, with a film career already in full gear (don’t forget “Blue Chips”) and a budding music career, it makes you wonder how this guy has time to play 82 games a season?

Perhaps if Shaq would concentrate harder at the free throw line and spend less time attempting to bring out the 7 foot, 2 inch thespian and musician in himself, the Lakers would win a championship.

The impact of players’ off-season business on their NBA seasons can be best illustrated by Muresan’s fine work in “My Giant.”

His entire 1997-98 season was hampered by injuries he sustained while working on the set of “My Giant.”

This is where the line must be drawn. When players cannot perform at their highest levels on the court because off the court business interferes, then something must be done.

Maybe it’s the perceived attention and prestige that is afforded to movie stars that make these athletes take up acting as a side job.

Of course, it could be the money, but players will tell you it’s never about the money, right?

Maybe these athletes want to explore other areas of interest. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as that interest does not interfere with their prime interest: basketball.

Malik Sealy of the Detroit Pistons owns his own tie company on the side and continues to perform fairly well on the court.

Former NBA player Wayman Tisdale performed blues music and released a successful album, “Power Forward,” while also playing 12 years in the NBA.

Jayson Williams of the New Jersey Nets runs his own construction company while being among the league leaders in rebounding for the Nets.

Athletes who try acting are merely overextending themselves. Let the actors handle movies and television.

Pro wrestling was doing quite well before NBA players hit the scene, and I’m sure it will continue to do so in the future.

Yes, endorsements and commercials come with the territory for professional athletes. We will always have athletes in our collective minds because of them.

If the players are worried about losing the spotlight, prove us wrong and deliver on the court. We won’t forget about you, then.

I just want the players to play and give us our money’s worth. Of course, the first giant leap toward that happening would be an end to the lockout.

Until then, I guess I’ll have to be content with “The 6th Man,” “The Air Up There” and “Air Bud” to satisfy my hoop dreams.

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Justin South is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Ankeny.