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The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
team based in
Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. This is the first professional basketball team based in Vietnam. The Heat currently plays in the VBA, Vietnam's first professional basketball league.


History

The Saigon Heat are the first professional basketball team in Vietnam based in Ho Chi Minh City. They were officially announced as a member of the ASEAN Basketball League in October 2011. The team was formed by the Saigon Sports Academy, a multi-sports training academy launched in January 2009 and located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In their inaugural season, the Heat finished sixth in the ABL with a regular season record of 8–13. The Heat did not qualify in for the 2012 ABL playoffs. The Heat followed up their inaugural season with another disappointing sixth-place finish in an injury plagued 2013 season, highlighted by a twelve-game losing streak. Thirteen games into the 2014 season, head coach Jason Rabedeaux suddenly died, the main cause of death was traumatic brain injury. Coach Rabedeaux's assistant Anthony Garbelotto was named the new head coach. The Heat finished the season in fourth place, clinching their first ever playoff berth. The Heat were swept 0–2 by the Westports Malaysia Dragons in the 2014 ABL playoffs. Following the completion of the 2015–16 season, the Heat announced the formation of Vietnam's first professional basketball league, the Vietnam Basketball Association, where they would field a developmental team. The Heat VBA team consists of local players, with several of the ABL side's players being distributed among the other VBA teams for league parity purposes.


Logos

Image:Saigon_Heat.jpg, 2011–12 Original logo Image:heatsquare.png, 2013 season logo Image:Saigon_Heat_logo_2014.png, 2014–present logo


Season-by-season record


Home arenas

* Tân Bình Stadium (2012–2013) * CIS Sports Arena (2014–present)


2023 roster


Depth chart


Head coaches

* Robert Newson (2012) * Jason Rabedeaux † (2012–2014) * Anthony Garbelotto (2014–2017) *
Kyle Julius Kyle Nicholas Julius (born June 20, 1979) is a Canadian former professional basketball player and coach, He currently serves as General Manager and head coach for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the Taiwanese ...
(2017–2019) * Kevin Yurkus (2019–2022) * Matthew Van Pelt (2022–present)


References


External links

* *
Saigon Heat
at ASEANBasketballLeague.com {{Vietnam Basketball Association ASEAN Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 2011 Basketball teams in Vietnam 2011 establishments in Vietnam