Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese professional basketball's B. League postponed its regular season in late February 2020, which was then resumed in mid-March, before being suspended again only after one weekend. Eventually, the remaining regular season games (173 games in Division 1 and 117 games in Division 2) and all playoff games were cancelled. Purpose: This study mainly aimed to examine the professional basketball players' state of mental health after such unprecedented

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... es as the suspension and cancelation of league games in the middle of the season due to the pandemic of a communicable disease. Method: An electronic survey included members of the Japan Basketball Players Association in September 2020, which was 6 months after the season cancelation. The Japanese version of the K6 was used to assess players' mental health, and a K6 score ≥5 was defined as psychological distress. Results: There was a total of 108 eligible respondents. The ratio of K6≥5 (R5+) was 52% during the suspension period and 21% at 6 months after the cancelation. The R5+ was significantly higher in smaller teams than in bigger teams (odds ratio: 4.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.51-13.25) . No relationship was found between R5+ and age, playing time, or the cumulative number of hometown infections. Conclusions: It was suggested that COVID-19 put half of the players at risk of psychological distress, namely, 30% acute and 20% chronic, and that the vulnerability of teams' business fundamentals affected players' mental health. Establishment of permanent counseling services for players' mental health care was recommended.