The Saigon Heat is Vietnam’s team in the ASEAN basketball league and they are currently down 0-2 in a best of five playoff series with the Kuala Lumpur Dragons of Malaysia. I had seen a couple of their regular season games on TV but I was still very curious as to what a professional basketball game looked and felt like in Vietnam. Luckily enough, tickets to their games turned out to be quite affordable, so I was able to go to the second playoff game with several of my classmates. Basketball is becoming more popular in Vietnam, but it is not necessarily a marquis sport like soccer or badminton. At the same time, it is a sport that is largely dominated by the NBA and American players, so I was curious to see how this aspect of the game translated over across the Pacific. Unsurprisingly, we were treated to a cross-cultural, bilingual spectacle that had all of the trappings of a basketball game in the states, but with a few local Vietnamese touches.
On the way to the stadium the conversation was largely focused on food, as it usually is around mid-afternoon. Our group came to the consensus that hot dogs would be the perfect food for the occasion, as this is a common sporting event treat in America. Lo and behold, the only concessions stand on hand was run by Lucky Dog, a local business that specializes in different types of sausages and hot dogs. After several hallelujah hot dog moments we collected our free t-shirts and packed into the stairwell with tickets in hand, waiting for our turn to be let into the arena. There was a heavy foreigner presence, as was to be expected, although there seemed to be many die-hard Vietnamese fans as well.
One interesting rule that seemed to differentiate this event from ones that I have attended in the United States was that alcohol was not allowed into the arena. Even though beer was being sold outside, the lack of alcoholic beverages in the arena made for a very different, more controlled environment than what I was expecting. I also noticed a distinctive difference between the Vietnamese and foreign fans. While the Vietnamese were very enthusiastic, they rarely stood up or yelled at players or the referees. On the 
other hand, many of the foreigners (including myself) were on their feet at many points throughout the game, while a small contingent behind the away bench kept up a consistent barrage of complaints and angry barbs directed at those on the court. As I have not been to any other large-scale sporting events in this country, it is hard to say whether this difference in behavior is cultural or specifically linked to basketball.
Overall, the game was a fascinating look into the local twists on a game that is becoming increasingly global. They presence of foreign foods, behaviors, and the predominant use of English made one forget momentarily that the game was being played in Vietnam, but upon closer examination the Vietnamese tendencies and social expectations became apparent. It was a fascinating cultural experience and a cool way to see the Vietnamese community expanding its interests.