Why the NBA is the best sport in America

This is as good a time as ever to jump on the bandwagon, because the NBA is the greatest sport in America.

Sure, it seems bandwagonny (if that's a word) because we're in the midst of the greatest run in Bay Area sports history – the Golden State Warriors' effort to win their second championship in three years, capping the greatest three-year winning run in NBA history. They're preparing to open the second round of the playoffs, meaning you still have six weeks of games to watch.

However, most American fans miss out. According a Harris poll from a little over a year ago, the most popular sport in America is pro football. Baseball is second, college football is third and auto racing is fourth. Auto racing!

Pro basketball is fifth.

America is wrong. Again. Just like that season of "American Idol" when Taylor Hicks won.

The best sport is professional basketball. Disagree? I'll give you seven reasons – one for each game of last year's epic NBA Finals series between the teams with the best rivalry in sports: The Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

1. Star power. No other sport has the number of recognizable stars: LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin. We could go on, but the NBA is home to recognizable players with different styles. This has always been true.

2. Character shows. There's no sport that better exposes someone's character. Play a 3-on-3 game at the park and you realize who's selfish, who always hustles, who gets better under pressure. The same thing is true in the NBA. James is impervious to pressure. Curry has fun. Westbrook plays with a burning passion. Griffin shrinks from the spotlight. Players are exposed, for good or bad.

3. Watchability. Basketball fits TV. It's a two-hour, 20-minute game in a contained space with cameras in all the important areas. Watching a game on TV is as good as being there, except it isn't. If you've never been to an NBA game, you've missed the best experience in sports. Not only are the games exciting, the entertainment is fun and engaging. No one leaves an NBA game bored.

4. Stars stick around. NBA salary rules are set up to encourage stars to stay put. While great players can switch teams (see Durant), there are more superstars who remain with one team (Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Curry) than other sports. If you get attached to a superstar on your team, he'll probably stay for a long time.

5. Stars always play. There's no intentional walk in the NBA. There's no double-covering a wide receiver. The best player on an NBA team will get plenty of opportunities..

6. Emotion is OK. Every NBA game includes moments of pure joy and obvious frustration. Make a 3-pointer and dance. Dunk over an opponent and mug. Miss an open shot and shake your head. There's nowhere to hide and no unwritten rules that forbid emotion (hello, baseball).

7. Warriors. OK, this is a homer call, but the Warriors are historically great right now. If you miss watching them, it's like missing the 1965 Beatles, Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane," ribs from Fairfield's Tony Roma's restaurant in 1985 and Dick Van Patten as Tom Bradford in "Eight is Enough." You miss the best of the best.

This sport ranks behind auto racing? Incomprehensible.

Get on the bandwagon!

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.