After 10 years of building the foundation, VBA enters its 11th season with the goal of continuing to elevate Vietnamese basketball in the region. This year's season is themed "A place where talent reaches legendary levels - Inspiring A New Generation", aiming to connect the pioneering generation of players with the next generation of young athletes.
VBA 2026 continues to maintain the home-away format with the participation of 6 clubs including Hanoi Buffaloes, Danang Dragons, Nha Trang Dolphins, Ho Chi Minh City Wings, Saigon Heat and Cantho Catfish. In parallel with the tournament, the Draft Combine Series 2026 selection series is also being implemented to create opportunities for young talents to access a professional competition environment.
In this season, VBA applies new regulations related to the use of foreign players to increase the opportunity for domestic players to play. Accordingly, each team is allowed to register a maximum of 2 World Import, 2 Asian/Heritage Import, 1 Local-3 along with domestic players.
In competition, each team is only allowed to use a maximum of 3 players from the Import/Local-3 group at the same time on the field, ensuring that there are always at least 2 domestic players playing. Notably, each team is only allowed to use a maximum of 1 World Import in the 1st and 3rd quarters. In the 2nd and 4th quarters, the playing time of World Import is not limited, but still must comply with regulations on the number of foreign players on the field.
Representatives of the VBA organizing committee said that this regulation is referenced from many international tournament models, in order to create more competition opportunities for domestic players, while still ensuring the professional competitiveness of the tournament.
In terms of media - entertainment, VBA continues to strategically cooperate with FPT Play in the period 2026-2030. This year's season will be upgraded with production quality with a system of 9-10 4K standard cameras, while strengthening direct interactive activities such as commentary, result prediction and minigames for audiences.
In addition, VBA also promotes commercial activities in the "shoppertainment" trend through livestream sales of genuine products, contributing to expanding the experience for young fans.
In addition to professional competition activities, VBA coordinates with the Central Vietnam Student Association to organize the National Student Summer Basketball Camp, aiming to spread a positive lifestyle and develop the basketball movement in the student community.
