It's no surprise that the Hiroshima Lightning have endured a soap opera-like saga before even playing their first bj-league game.

In fact, it's quite predictable.

Leadership woes and institutional ineptitude have plagued Japan basketball for many decades, and a fundamental lack of understanding about the true value of cutthroat competition has held the sport back. And this is true in domestic and international basketball circles, as evidenced by the Japan men's national team's epic Olympic drought (the last time it competed in the quadrennial tournament was 1976).