I love the NBA for a lot of reasons. 

But one of the reasons I love the NBA is the same reason why I love house music, cooking and personal responsibility.

Because lots of people don't love those things. 

Take Rush Limbaugh, for example. The professional blowhard has been in the sports news recently because he is part of a group which also includes former NBA executive Dave Checketts that is trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. 

Limbaugh has always been a big football fan. He is a staunch supporter of the Steelers from his early radio days in Pittsburgh and also served as a studio analyst for ESPN, although that didn't work out so well. 

I could go off on a mean-spirited tangent about how Limbaugh's love of the NFL is similarly conditional to his love of the United States. As long as a black guy isn't at the controls, he's got an endless supply of sloppy, wet kisses for America and its national pastime. But that's a breakaway layup. 

What Limbaugh made abundantly clear Wednesday is that he is not a fan of basketball. 

While discussing with a caller the use of revenue from a proposed 1 cent sales tax to combat gang violence, Limbaugh called basketball "the favorite sport of gangs." 

Limbaugh doesn't reference basketball much. About five years ago, he had a bit to say about the Malice at the Palace, claiming it was "hip-hop culture on parade. This is gang behavior on parade minus the guns. That's the culture that the NBA has become." 

Less than a month later, Limbaugh piled on with this gem. 

"It's time to get rid of this whole National Basketball Association," he said. "Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Association, and stop calling 'em teams. Call 'em gangs." 

Of course, Limbaugh didn't reference basketball in 2005, when Kenny Smith organized a charity game and Kevin Garnett donated $1.2 million to build new houses for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Or in 2008, when the NBA went against all conventional wisdom and held All-Star Weekend to New Orleans, which began with a leaguewide Day of Service.  

Nah, you wouldn't want to reference those things. That would have shown up the white guy at the controls and his staff. But what do you expect from a guy who played a song entitled "Barack the Magic Negro" on the air? 

It must please Limbaugh to no end that President Obama's favorite sport is basketball. It makes it so much easier for him to compartmentalize Obama and continue to preach to his choir about how our Commander in Chief fits the false frightening face the radical right puts on blacks. 

Which is exactly why I love the NBA - because it inherently excludes close-minded, race-baiting, polarizing know-it-alls like Limbaugh and all of the members of his misguided, dangerous flock. 

For example, Limbaugh appeals on some levels to white supremacists, who couldn't possibly have any love for a league that is 75 percent black. 

Limbaugh also has a following of jingoists, who would also have plenty of difficulty appreciating a multicultural league that boasts players from all over the globe, some of whom are still learning our language. 

Limbaugh gets support from those believing in strict law enforcement, who would definitely have a hard time rationalizing some of the off-the-court behavior of NBA players and subsequent leniency meted out by the judicial system. Additionally, they would not understand the superstar system used by referees. 

Limbaugh has the backing of advocates of the sanctity of family, who have little tolerance for the notion of having children out of wedlock. 

Limbaugh also has the ear of the religious right, who might have a problem with the NBA's diversity of beliefs and overall secular tone. 

Limbaugh has a sect of followers who oppose broadening the range of civil liberties, folks who would frown upon personal expression through body art and hairstyles.

And finally, Limbaugh has backers strongly opposed to the use of drugs, who would have no patience for the perceived permissive environment fostered by the NBA. Those folks would have to be more specific about what sort of drug use offends them, lest they be called hypocrites. 

You see? By loving the NBA, I limit my contact with white supremacists, nutty nationalists, merciless lawmen and legislators, 18th-century ideologues, Jesus freaks, old-fashioned fearmongers and DEA wannabes. 

As someone who has voted my wallet, my safety and my conscience in various elections, I will be the first to admit that my political views could be classified as simplistic. Someone as knowledgeable about politics as Limbaugh might even call them ignorant, and he would not be entirely wrong. 

But there are some things I know pretty well, like house music, cooking, personal responsibility and basketball, specifically the NBA. 

While Limbaugh may know politics, his ridiculous remarks Wednesday revealed his ignorance about basketball and the NBA. Next time, he should just stick with something he knows very well. 

Like hate. 

Chris Bernucca has covered the NBA since 1996 and is a regular contributor to Pro Basketball News. You can disagree with him at cbernucca@comcast.net.