Every year, I attend a few Pacers games. At the games, I always see many jerseys of popular Pacers players from the present and past—Paul George, David West and Reggie Miller, just to name a few. This year, however, some Lance Stephenson jerseys have been popping up. The fans, especially the young ones, who wear the jerseys, obviously admire the players whose respective jerseys they wear, leading me to wonder the character of the players they admire. This begs the question, should we actually look up to professional athletes?

Growing up, I have always looked up to my parents. As an athlete and sports fan myself, I also looked up to famous professional athletes. Looking back, I wonder if looking up to professional athletes was a good decision, as they often seem to get involved in drugs, crime and shockingly immature behavior.

As I followed last year’s Pacers through their eventual Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Miami Heat, I was always closely watching and reading about none other than Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson. Stephenson, a Brooklyn native, excelled for his high school basketball team and was named the state of New York’s Mr. Basketball after his senior year. After playing one year at the University of Cincinnati and being named Big East rookie of the year, he bypassed his final three years of college and entered the 2010 NBA draft. Certainly, his basketball talent is admirable–but his attitude and off-court decisions are questionable, to say the least.

After an altercation with a teammate in high school during 2008, he was suspended for two games and five days from school. The same year, he faced a Class B misdemeanor sexual assault charge after he was charged with groping a 17-year-old inside high school. In 2010, after allegedly pushing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs, he was arrested for third-degree assault. Despite all this, in the winter of 2011 he made his NBA debut for the Pacers. So, he did some stupid stuff in high school and college, but now that he’s professional, he’ll straighten himself out, right?

I wish.

After no technical fouls during his first two professional seasons, according to espn.com, Stephenson received 6 during the 2012-13 season and 14 this past season, including one ejection—a concerning upward trend towards more out-of-control behavior. During game 5 against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, he comically listened in on the Heat huddle and later blew air into All-star Lebron James’s ear. While he is an excellent basketball player and certainly entertaining to watch, Stephenson should be no role model.

Sports are largely part of many Americans’ lives, a trend which I too embrace. Yet, to everyone who watches sports, especially kids and teenagers, we must remember the character of the people we are watching. That is not to say that just because one plays sports he or she is an uneducated, drug-dealing thug—I vehemently disagree with that stereotype. Yet, we must understand the concerning trend which many young and talented athletes seem to follow. As their talent propels them into the professional world, their maturity level has not fully developed, and foolish decisions are often the result. So, the next time Stephenson’s antics make headlines, I challenge you to think—is that really the name you want on the back of your jersey?