Vietnam Basketball Association

The Vietnam Basketball Association, abbreviated as VBA, is a Vietnamese national professional basketball league founded in 2016. It runs an annual tournament, the Vietnam Pro Basketball League (Vietnamese: Giải Bóng rổ Chuyên nghiệp Việt Nam).[1]

Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA)
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 VBA season
SportBasketball
Founded2016 (2016)
Inaugural season2016
No. of teams7
CountryVietnam
ContinentFIBA Asia
Most recent
champion(s)		Saigon Heat
(4th title)
Most titlesSaigon Heat
(4 titles)
Official websitevba.vn

History

The formation of the VBA was announced by charter team Saigon Heat following their completion of the 2015–16 ASEAN Basketball League season.[1] Leading up to the inaugural season, the VBA expected that six teams would compete in the new league.[2] However, only five teams were officially unveiled. To oversee league operations, the VBA looked to the Philippines for personnel with extensive basketball experience.[3] Tonichi Pujante was named the inaugural league commissioner.[4]

Teams

Locations of the VBA teams

The VBA started its inaugural season with five teams. The Thang Long Warriors was added as the sixth team in the 2017 season,[5] followed by the Nha Trang Dolphins as the seventh in the 2020 season.[6]

Team Based in Home venue Founded Joined Head coach
Cantho Catfish Ninh Kiều District, Cần Thơ Cần Thơ Multi-purpose Sports Arena 2016 United States Jordan Collins
Danang Dragons Hải Châu District, Đà Nẵng Quân Khu 5 Sports Arena 2016 United States Todd Purves
Hanoi Buffaloes Hai Bà Trưng District, Hà Nội Bách Khoa Sports Arena 2016 United States Erik Rashad
Ho Chi Minh City Wings District 3, Ho Chi Minh City Hồ Xuân Hương Sports Arena 2016 United States Erik Olson
Nha Trang Dolphins Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa Nha Trang University Sports Arena 2020 Serbia Predrag Lukic
Saigon Heat District 7, Ho Chi Minh City CIS Sports Arena 2011 2016 United States Matthew van Pelt
Thang Long Warriors Tây Hồ District, Hà Nội Tây Hồ Arena 2017 United States Chris Daleo

Regular season and playoffs
A VBA regular season match between Cantho Catfish and Danang Dragons, Hanoi, June 2023

Following the summer break, the preseason typically begins in May. During this period, the teams build their 13–16-man rosters, with each team allowed to carry one foreign, two overseas Vietnamese, and 10 to 13 local players.[2] The VBA regular season begins at the start of June and runs until the end of September. Each team plays 12 games, divided between six home and six away matches. At the end of the regular season, the league's overall leader is awarded the Fans' Shield.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the playoffs begin. In the inaugural season, all teams are eligible for the tournament style playoffs. However, the teams that finish in the #4 and #5 seeds must meet each other in a wildcard game to proceed to the playoffs. The winner of the game meets the #1 seeded team. From the 2017 season onwards, there are six teams, and the wildcard game is scrapped. #1 will play #4 and the #2 seeded team meets the #3 seeded team in a best-of-three series. The winners then progress to the VBA finals.

Results by year
Season Finalists Losing semi-finalists
Champions Results Runner-up
2016 Danang Dragons 2 0 Ho Chi Minh City Wings Saigon Heat Hanoi Buffaloes
2017 Thang Long Warriors 3 2 Cantho Catfish Saigon Heat Hanoi Buffaloes
2018 Cantho Catfish 3 0 Hanoi Buffaloes Saigon Heat Thang Long Warriors
2019 Saigon Heat 3 2 Cantho Catfish Ho Chi Minh City Wings Thang Long Warriors
2020 Saigon Heat 3 1 Thang Long Warriors Cantho Catfish Hanoi Buffaloes
2022 Saigon Heat 3 0 Hanoi Buffaloes Ho Chi Minh City Wings Nha Trang Dolphins
2023 Saigon Heat 3 1 Nha Trang Dolphins Hanoi Buffaloes Thang Long Warriors

Champions
Team Champions Runners-up Total Champion year Runner-up year
Saigon Heat4042019, 2020, 2022, 2023-
Danang Dragons1012016-
Thang Long Warriors11220172020
Cantho Catfish12320182017, 2019
Ho Chi Minh City Wings011-2016
Nha Trang Dolphins011-2023
Hanoi Buffaloes022-2018, 2022

See also

References
  1. Hodge, Harry. "Vietnam is getting a pro basketball league". saigoneer.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  2. "VN Basketball Association seeks US-based basketballers". vietnamnet.vn. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  3. "Vietnam looking for Filipino commissioner, coaches for maiden professional cage league". spin.ph. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  4. "Letter from VBA Commissioner - Tonichi Pujante". vba.vn. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  5. "The sixth VBA team Thang Long Warriors just revealed their logo". aseansports.com. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  6. "Vietnam pro basketball league to start in May with extra team". vnexpress.net. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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