Adem Bona felt like he had done a terrific job with his assignment, he said, after the Sixers' loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night. For the second time in his rookie campaign, Bona was tasked with defending one of his basketball heroes, Giannis Antetokounmpo. About an hour after the game went final, Bona explained with a smile that he was taking pride in how he handled the two-time MVP… until he looked at the box score.
"I guess I wasn't doing as good as I thought I was doing," Bona said with a laugh as he looked at the night's statsheet. Antetokounmpo's line was absurd: 35 points, 20 rebounds and 17 assists.
Bona's head coach had a slightly different perspective.
"Everything he was did super good tonight," Nick Nurse said.
Bona had some clear successes and a handful of learning moments defending Antetokoummpo, but he still posted by far the best game of his rookie season. Bona scored 28 points, shooting 13-for-15 from the field, while swatting three shots and notching a pair of steals.
In this week's edition of Friday film, it's a lengthy deep dive into Bona's career night:
Offensive rebounding
Bona's absolute top trait — even more than his stellar athleticism at 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds — is his motor. Bona never stops making effort plays, and that desire paired with his athletic gifts makes him particularly excellent as an offensive rebounder. Only 27 players with at least 750 minutes in 2024-25 have grabbed more offensive rebounds per 100 possessions than Bona (4.9). On three separate occasions on Thursday, Bona cleaned the glass and put the ball in the basket:
Three of Adem Bona's baskets against the Milwaukee Bucks came via the offensive glass, where he continues to shine thanks to an excellent combination of athleticism and motor: pic.twitter.com/TjPRxp4vns
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
The Sixers entered this season with a motto: "The Ball Wins," which is intended to emphasize the importance of winning the possession battle. This means forcing turnovers on defense, limiting turnovers on offense and dominating the boards. Bona will generate many extra possessions for his team for years to come.
"That's my goal," Bona said after Thursday's game. "I always talk about contributing to the team defensively, but to be able to add, chip in something offensively, I think that would be big for me and for the team."
Rolling to the rim
Bona's most common scripted utility on the offensive end will be screening or slipping screens and then rolling to the rim hard. He has recently developed an excellent rapport with Jared Butler in that department. But Bona is also creating some chemistry with Quentin Grimes, the Sixers' most skilled on-ball threat of their remaining players. Bona rolls with real intent, powered by his mobility and aided by his fearless nature:
Adem Bona is making major strides scoring as a roller, which he did on a few occasions vs. Milwaukee on Thursday. The assist from Lonnie Walker IV in the last clip is sweet: pic.twitter.com/HmOMduv63n
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
"I think that's something that could be really special," Butler said near the end of March. "…Sometimes bigs don't understand how important and how valuable rolling is. It helps everybody on the team and a simple roll hard to the rim gets guys open, gets guys shots. They might not know, or they might not get the shot, but it adds value to the team."
A new signature play?
Bona is never going to be someone the Sixers will run their offense through, or even call plays for beyond the basic screening and rolling. But he figures to have the ball a decent amount in an offense that frequently utilizes dribble hand-off actions to get players like Grimes, Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain the ball on the move.
After flirting with it a handful of times throughout the season, Bona has now fully embraced the path to leveraging the massive amount of attention defenses pay to those guards and his physical capabilities: faking the hand-off and exploding in the direction of the rim. Bona said his goal against Milwaukee's massive frontcourt of Antetkounmpo and Brook Lopez was to utilize his speed offensively, particularly against the 37-year-old Lopez. And so, he notched two more baskets on quick fakes and drives:
The fake DHO leading into drives could become Adem Bona's signature scoring method. He pulled it off twice in his career-best game vs. Milwaukee on Thursday: pic.twitter.com/EFjazCFaHU
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
This was the second game in a row in which Bona found an avenue to get downhill like this, and nobody can stop him once he has a head of steam going in the direction of the rim. After Bona pulled it off in New York during the Sixers' loss to the Knicks on Tuesday, Nurse was asked about the play.
"Would love for him to use it a little more often," Nurse said. "Would love to have him build on it. And the reason is, it seems like when he does it, he's at the front of the rim quickly, but it isn't like he's taking four or five more dribbles and trying to figure out the path. Like, he gets them, he's right there usually, elevating to try to dunk or get to the free throw line. I think those kinds of things always relieve some kind of pressure, either for yourself or for your teammates."
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Energy
Bona has been a fan favorite everywhere he has played basketball, and it is not just because he plays with effort and is a tremendous athlete. He wears his heart on his sleeve, is unafraid of competition and basks in his highlights. Bona's positive energy is as unrelenting as his effort on 50/50 plays, and it was difficult to find moments from Thursday's game in which he made a great play and did not immediately follow it up with a flex or celebration of some sort:
Adem Bona made a career-high 13 shots against the Bucks on Thursday. He flexed, screamed or otherwise celebrated after eight of them. The energy was off the charts: pic.twitter.com/NpLgH0Nn9k
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
Back in November, Bona had a conversation with PhillyVoice about the early ongoings of his rookie season, and shared some insight into his constant enthusiasm.
"That's what I live for, getting the fans going," Bona said. "I feed off the energy from the fans."
Bona's energy does not just uplift the fans, but also his teammates. Just about every player who has shared the floor with Bona has raved about who he is as a teammate, and Grimes joined that list on Thursday.
"He's the same way every day," Grimes said. "That's definitely a skill in this league, to be the same way every day no matter what… He just brings a lot of energy and that's definitely a skill in this league."
Defense
All of Bona's offensive exploits on Thursday were impressive and encouraging, but none of it matters much if he fails provide value defensively and anchor his team on that end of the floor. Bona has clearly always had the tools and desire to be great defensively, and was just in need of some fine-tuning. That process remains ongoing, but Bona says he feels far more comfortable facing NBA offenses and handling all of the mental tasks that go with being at the center of an NBA defense than he did earlier in the season, and the eye test backs that up:
The Sixers believe Adem Bona has made noticeable improvements this season as a defender and as a rim protector, the primary area in which they have honed in on his development. He had three blocks and two steals on Thursday vs. Milwaukee: pic.twitter.com/M7J1549tPr
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
When it became clear about a month ago that Bona was in line for significant playing time for the final six weeks of the season, Bona was adamant that it would do wonders for his development. Looking back, how helpful has this extended rotation run been?
"Playing consistent minutes every game, it helps boost your confidence. It helps knowing you're going to be out there every night… I think it's kind of a launching pad into next year, getting ready to play with all of the great players we have on our team."
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Full highlights
If you'd like to watch all of these highlights in one video, knock yourself out here:
2:19 of Adem Bona's finest moments against the Milwaukee Bucks last night in the Sixers rookie's career night:
28 points (13-15 FG)
6 rebounds (3 offensive)
3 blocks
2 steals pic.twitter.com/7xXrOvr2Zw— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 4, 2025
Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam
Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice