Pro basketball team lose American player to injury ahead of new season

By Hoang Nguyen June 28, 2021 | 07:00 pm PT

Quincy Cole has parted way with Saigon Heat only a month after joining the team. Photo courtesy of Saigon Heat.

Saigon Heat, the defending national basketball champions, have parted ways with Quincy Cole after he suffered a pre-season injury.

The 31-year-old American power forward was injured during training, and will not be able to recover in time for the new season starting July 10.

Saigon had no choice but to let him go though they only signed him up in May.

Cole, 2.03 meters (6’ 8") tall and weighing 109 kilograms, started in the U.S.’s National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I 10 years ago before going on to play in pro leagues in Australia, Iceland, Finland, and France.

According to the Vietnam Basketball Association regulations, Saigon can replace Cole with a foreign player, and they are expected to sign American forward Joshua Keyes, who played for them last season.

The 2021 VBA national league will be played exclusively at the Nha Trang University gymnasium in Khanh Hoa Province instead of Hanoi and HCMC as initially planned, and without spectators.

It will conclude on Sept. 20.

Eight teams will play this season, including the national team.