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==