Those in charge clearly have no clear vision and no recognition of what it'll take to make legitimate, major changes to the sport. More times than not, they are throwing darts at the wall and hoping some of those darts hit a target, any target.
To disrupt the status quo, and promote rapid integration and cooperation of the sport between the JBL (now NBL) and the upstart bj-league, which began play in the fall of 2005, there needed (and still needs to be) to be a major event of real significance.
If Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese to play in the NBA, had joined the bj-league, that would've added major gravitas to the young circuit, which continues to struggle to prove it can be viewed as a major league.
Looking back on Tabuse's decision to join the JBL's Link Tochigi Brex in 2008 after several seasons in the NBA Development Leaue and a four-game stint with the Phoenix Suns, a hoop pundit pointed this out:
"Something almost happened last year, before Tabuse joined the Tochigi Brex. The bj-league made him an offer of about $250,000 per season, which the league would pay, and he could choose which team to play for. Well, he took the offer from Tochigi. But if he had come to the bj-league, I bet some of the bj-league/JBA barriers would have come down."
Of course, there was pressure from within the JBA for Tabuse to not play in the bj-league. After all, he had his sights set on returning to the national team, which had not allowed a bj-league player to join (until Takumi Ishizaki in 2011). Never mind the fact that the bj-league provides stiffer competition at the guard position for Tabuse, what with each team having import guards -- there have been almost no import foreign backcourt JBL players in the past decade (and to prepare Japanese to challenge in the future for the NBA, this is a major flaw; imports are needed at ALL positions). It was all about politics, maintaining the status quo and failing to set a clear path for progress.
And look where the Japan national team is ... no Olympic qualifications since 1976 ... an 0-6 record at the William Jones Cup.