A new trio of basketball players has emerged at San Quentin, and is looking for challengers. Comparing themselves to the Miami Heat, lifer inmate Aladdin Pangilinan said, “we are the Asian Heat. I’m LeBron James, my teammate ‘Blue’ is Vong Vue and ‘T-Bone’ is Tom Saevang.”
“Win or lose, we play with passion,” he added.
The Asian Heat is not a league team; they are friends who get together to occupy their time in a productive manner.
“The purpose of the three man team is to have fun and release stress. Prison politics has a way of grabbing people in a negative way, so basketball is an outlet for many of us that don’t want to get caught up in the drama,” said Blue.
The Asian Heat’s average height is 5-foot-6 ½ and they practice every morning in order to stay competitive.

“Win or lose, we play with passion”

“We will play anyone on the yard; there is no one we will not take on,” says T-Bone.
These inmates utilize basketball to strengthen their friendships and bring their Asian community together, one of the team members said.