NBA

With LeBron, I think it is a combination of a couple of things. Yes, he is an all-time great and a major superstar, so refs may be hesitant to argue with him on a questionable decision. But he is also ancient, in athlete years. He has been referreed by all the refs plenty of times and probably knows where each of their thresholds are and what behavior may trigger them. He also seems like a nice guy, so sometimes it is not "a player whining to them about a call he did not like" but it is "their buddy LeBron pointing out that they keep falling for a flop".

Besides, James gets superstar calls. He has no right to whine about anything.