Japanese Basketball League's Latest Move is a Terrible Sign for Return of American Sports

U.S. sports fans have pinned a small amount of hope on our nation's various leagues returning as the calendar hits the summer months.

But the bottom line is this: we cannot be rushing back our major sports, lest we end up like Japan's latest attempt to get B-Level basketball back up and running.

Japan played a "chaotic weekend of games" before shutting things down again, and postponing any further action until April 1.

The Japanese games appeared to be incredibly mishandled, coming just a few weeks after the league's initial shutdown and the country's drastic set of containment measures.

One contest between Levanga Hokkaido and Kawasaki Brave Thunders was canceled after a player came down with a surprise pre-game fever (much like Rudy Gobert's inciting incident at the NBA level), while another was similarly axed after a referee also had an elevated temperature.

US-born big man Jeff Ayres, leading the league in rebounding, didn't even return to Japan, fearing the rushed manner with which the Japanese B League attempted to handle their shutdown.

If US sports come back in June or July, without fans, they'll have to do a better job of containment than this. Otherwise, the ramp-up may all be for naught, only setting our morale back further.