PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have employed several basketball players this season who have, frankly, not been NBA players. When you play 29 guys in a disastrous season, they can’t all be winners. Adem Bona is not among that group. And for the voluminous basketball dreck the 76ers have p erpetrated this season, Bona has gotten a chance to prove he is an NBA player. Thursday night was another pertinent step, the rookie center tallying a career-high 28 points on 13-for-15 shooting in a 123-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. The headline from Thursday’s affair centered on another big man with Nigerian roots, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo going off for an NBA-first stat line of 35 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists. But Bona did a credible job in turns defending Antetokounmpo — Giannis was a plus-23 on the night, Bona only minus-8 — while leading a 76ers offense terminally bereft of options. “He was really good,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought he obviously was super effective around the basket. He had some great finishes, with some great catches and dunks. He was on the glass a little bit, tipping some around, and did a great job. It was great to see. Everything he did was super, super good tonight.” Bona’s previous best was 16 points. He had only four 20-point outings in two seasons at UCLA. His previous career high in the NBA for shot attempts was 13, and he went and made 13 on Thursday. Defense will always be the anchor of Bona’s game. His agility at 6-10 and his rim-protecting reach are what got him drafted. But his ability to add an offensive gloss is the difference between sticking around for a long NBA career and riding the fortunes of life near two-way/10-day territory. “I always talk about contributing to the team defensively,” Bona said. “I want to be able to chip in something offensively. That would be big for me and for the team, because obviously, doing what I do defensively is huge. But being able to chip in offensively, that would be big for me and for the team.” Thursday was poignant for Bona. He hails from Lagos, Nigeria, one of the countries where the Greek-born Antetokounmpo is an idol and where his family’s roots are. Bona made his first career start on Jan. 19 in Milwaukee against Antetokounmpo, someone he looked up to in his basketball youth. Knowing Antetokounmpo was his primary defensive responsibility sharpened Bona’s focus from the start Thursday. It was a blow to his pride at junctures when he looked up at the scoreboard to glimpse the ballooning, video-game numbers Antetokounmpo was posting: 20-7-8 at halftime, the NBA’s third game of 30 points and 20 assists this season by the end. “I thought I was doing a pretty good job,” he said. “And I looked up and like, oh OK, I guess I wasn’t doing as good as I thought I was doing. But it’s how do I lock in and go to the next play. I think I just do what I can do right now, and the rest is going to handle itself.” The 76ers’ rhetoric about having something to play for runs stale when the team is playing for draft positioning. But it can still resonate on the individual scale. Bona, selected 41st overall in last summer’s draft, is one of a handful of players toward the bottom of the roster playing to convince the 76ers (and, failing that, 29 other teams) that he belongs in the NBA. He’s so far succeeded, averaging 5.0 points and 3.8 assists in 53 games. Since the start of 2024, he’s upped his minutes to 17.5 per night, averaging 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in a more regular role. At a baseline, he’s compiled a convincing case to be the 76ers’ backup center next year, a position behind Joel Embiid inadequately filled by veterans in recent years. With the 76ers hurting for rim protection this year and in a multi-year dearth of rebounding, Bona fits the role. The roster this year was old, too old to remain healthy and intact and will remain so next year, built around two players on the wrong side of 30 in Embiid and Paul George. That magnifies the energy Bona supplies. “This season has given him a ton of minutes and a ton of opportunities night in and night out,” Nurse said. “I think that’s the thing I continue to talk about: Can he bring this energy every night? Obviously, he’s not going to get 15 opportunities every night. But the spring, the energy, the bounce, the rim protection, the running of the floor hard and safe transfer of the ball are all things that we are trying to build with him.” No one is confusing Bona for a centerpiece pivot, especially offensively. But Embiid and Antetokounmpo are the outliers. The league is full of centers who are rim protectors first and almost incidental offensive contributors. The 76ers have repeatedly failed to find much, less develop one, to back Embiid. Bona, for all his work, will not be called upon as a jump-shooter or stretch five. But he’s developing in key areas, from being more sure-handed in his interchange with guards, to becoming a threat in pick-and-roll, to being able to finish around the rim when a dribble or a post move is required. Bona is taking those steps, and while it’s hollow consolation for a team that has lost 25 of 28 games, it is at least something. “Playing consistent minutes every game really helps boost your confidence,” Bona said. “It also helps that you’ve got to be out there every night, so I think it has helped me come a long way. I think it’s a launchpad into next year, getting to play with all the great players we have on our team.” ...read more read less