2023 VBA season

The 2023 VBA season (Vietnamese: VBA mùa giải 2023) was the eighth season of the Vietnam Basketball Association. The regular season began on 10 June and ended on 3 September.^[1] The playoffs began on 7 September, and ended on 28 September, with the Saigon Heat clinching their 4th straight title after defeating the Nha Trang Dolphins in 4 games in the Finals.^[2]

Vietnam Basketball Association
Season	2023
Duration	10 June – 28 September
Games played	18
Teams	7
TV partner(s)	Vietnam: On Sports Online: Facebook Watch TikTok YouTube
Regular season
Top seed	Saigon Heat
Finals
Champions	Saigon Heat
Runners-up	Nha Trang Dolphins
Finals MVP	Kentrell Barkley (Saigon)
Statistical leaders
Points Kentrell Barkley (Saigon) 30.2 Rebounds John Fields (Thang Long) 17.7 Assists Madarious Gibbs (Nha Trang) 8.5
← 2022 2024 →

The regular season started with all seven teams playing a round-robin tournament at a centralized venue in Hanoi. The remainder of the regular season was played in the traditional home and away format.^[1]

Teams

All seven teams from the 2022 season continued on in 2023. The season started with the first quarter of the schedule played at a central hub in Hanoi. The remainder of the schedule was played in the traditional home-and-away format.

Venues and locations

Buffaloes
Warriors

Dragons

Dolphins

Heat
Wings

Catfish

Locations of the VBA teams

Team	Home city	Arena
Cantho Catfish	Can Tho	Da Nang Can Tho Arena
Danang Dragons	Da Nang	Son Tra Arena
Hanoi Buffaloes	Hanoi	Hoang Mai Arena
Hochiminh City Wings	Ho Chi Minh City	Ho Xuan Huong Arena
Nha Trang Dolphins	Nha Trang	Nha Trang University Arena
Saigon Heat	Ho Chi Minh City	CIS Arena
Thang Long Warriors	Hanoi	Tay Ho Arena

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head Coach	Kit maker
Cantho Catfish	Jordan Collins	Anta
Danang Dragons	Todd Purves
Hanoi Buffaloes	Erik Rashad
Hochiminh City Wings	Erik Olson
Nha Trang Dolphins	Predrag Lukic
Saigon Heat	Matt Van Pelt
Thang Long Warriors	Chris Daleo

Coaching Transactions

Coaching changes

Team	2022 season	2023 season
Off-season
Cantho Catfish	Leonardo Pérez	Jordan Collins
Hanoi Buffaloes	Eric Weissling	Erik Rashad
Thang Long Warriors	Predrag Lukic	Chris Daleo
Nha Trang Dolphins	Todd Purves	Predrag Lukic
Danang Dragons	Phan Thanh Canh	Alberto Antuña Leal
Danang Dragons	Alberto Antuña Leal	Todd Purves

Foreign players

Teams are allowed to register two foreign players and one heritage player. Heritage players are designated players who have Vietnamese heritage or have been naturalized. They do not count against the teams allotted foreign player slots.

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Heritage Player	Replaced
Cantho Catfish	Brachon Griffin	Joshua Keyes	Michael Soy	Ja Morgan DeAngelo Hamilton
Danang Dragons	Jermaine Marrow	Jairus Holder	William Tran	Yevgen Sakhniuk
Hanoi Buffaloes	Udun Osakue	Lenny Daniel	Tam Dinh	Russell Smith Anthony January
Hochiminh City Wings	Jeremy Smith	Yevgen Sakhniuk	Vincent Nguyen	Amir Williams
Nha Trang Dolphins	Madarious Gibbs	Robert Sampson	Dominique Tham
Saigon Heat	Kentrell Barkley		Hassan Thomas
Thang Long Warriors	John Fields	Sameen Swint	Justin Young

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification or relegation
1	Saigon Heat	18	14	4	1578	1462	+116	Qualification to playoffs
2	Hanoi Buffaloes	18	13	5	1545	1448	+97
3	Nha Trang Dolphins	18	12	6	1571	1473	+98
4	Thang Long Warriors	18	11	7	1567	1534	+33
5	Cantho Catfish	18	6	12	1484	1548	−64
6	Ho Chi Minh City Wings	18	6	12	1483	1555	−72
7	Danang Dragons	18	1	17	1489	1697	−208

Source: VBA

Results

Home \ Away CTC DND HNB HCM NTD SGH TLW CTC DND HNB HCM NTD SGH TLW Cantho Catfish 89–87 70–59 81–86 87–96 83–89 98–103 97–88 78–80 72–79 Danang Dragons 80–99 74–92 78–91 76–86 76–86 94–106 83–115 104–83 73–94 Hanoi Buffaloes 86–72 88–69 98–93 60–97 71–85 90–95 95–81 88–74 81–79 Hochiminh City Wings 66–78 101–70 81–89 90–87 78–80 77–80 89–95 63–94 95–89 Nha Trang Dolphins 77–70 88–77 80–72 72–77 79–85 100–73 108–105 93–83 99–95 Saigon Heat 111–70 97–91 83–92 82–67 94–90 91–88 86–82 98–91 90–70 Thang Long Warriors 83–78 91–82 91–93 87–72 77–82 82–68 94–86 78–82 86–83 Source: Results Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win. Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Playoffs

The playoffs began on 7 September.^[3]

Bracket

	Semifinals				Finals
	1 Saigon Heat	2
	4 Thang Long Warriors	0
					1 Saigon Heat	3
					3 Nha Trang Dolphins	1
	2 Hanoi Buffaloes	0
	3 Nha Trang Dolphins	2

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
(1) Saigon Heat	2–0	(4) Thang Long Warriors	89–79	97–76	–
(2) Hanoi Buffaloes	0–2	(3) Nha Trang Dolphins	61–85	67–82	–

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
(1) Saigon Heat	3–1	(3) Nha Trang Dolphins	98–95 (OT)	77–72	74–95	81–76 (OT)	–

Statistics

Individual statistic leaders

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Points per game	Kentrell Barkley	Saigon Heat	30.2
Assists per game	Madarious Gibbs	Nha Trang Dolphins	8.5
Rebounds per game	John Fields	Thang Long Warriors	17.7
Steals per game	Tam Dinh	Hanoi Buffaloes	2.8
Blocks per game	DeAngelo Hamilton	Cantho Catfish	2.8
Field goal percentage	John Fields	Thang Long Warriors	70.5%
Three point FG percentage	Vo Kim Ban	Saigon Heat	42.2%

Team statistic leaders

Category	Team	Statistic
Points per game	Saigon Heat	87.7
Rebounds per game	Saigon Heat	39.2
Assists per game	Saigon Heat	20.6
Steals per game	Hanoi Buffaloes	13.3
Blocks per game	Nha Trang Dolphins	4.0
Turnovers per game	Ho Chi Minh City Wings	17.8
Fouls per game	Thang Long Warriors	22.0
FG%	Ho Chi Minh City Wings	45.7%
3P%	Saigon Heat	34.5%
FT%	Hanoi Buffaloes	69.5%

Awards

Yearly awards

2023 VBA Awards

Award	Recipient	Team	Ref
Most Valuable Player	Kentrell Barkley	Saigon Heat	[4]
Most Valuable Local Player	Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh	Saigon Heat
Most Valuable Heritage Player	Dominique Tham	Nha Trang Dolphins
Most Popular Player of the Year	Vo Kim Ban	Saigon Heat
Defensive Player of the Year	John Fields	Thang Long Warriors
Rookie of the Year	Nguyen Hoang Phuc	Nha Trang Dolphins
Sixth Man of the Year	Son Minh Tam	Nha Trang Dolphins
Most Improved Player	Tran Van Trung	Ho Chi Minh City Wings
Coach of the Year	Matt Van Pelt	Saigon Heat