By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Following an extensive junior career with the national team of Turkiye and coming out of his rookie NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers, 22-year-old Adem Bona discussed his international options.
“It’s a huge consideration for me,” he replied to a question about playing for Turkiye at the senior level and a potential call-up by national team selector Ergin Ataman for EuroBasket 2025 during an end-of-season press conference on Sunday.
“I’ve played for the national team for almost every age group since U16 to U20. So, the Turkish national team is very important to me. Also, I’m from Nigeria. The Nigerian national team is important to me,” he added, “I don’t think there’s any preference. I represent both countries equally, but there’s going to be a decision that has to be made during the summer.”
Bona was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to Turkiye at age 13. Focusing on developing his basketball skills, he represented Turkiye in several international tournaments, capturing a bronze medal in the 2018 FIBA U16 European Championship and silver in the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship, before being named in the All-Star Five of the 2022 FIBA U20 European Championship.
He went from launching his professional career as a promising prospect of Pinar Karsiyaka in the FIBA Europe Cup and the Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi to high school in the United States and two NCAA campaigns with UCLA. His efforts were rewarded by the Sixers selecting him with the 41st overall pick of the 2024 NBA draft.
“It was a lot of learning process. Obviously, there were ups and downs. Personally, I would say I had to adapt and learn quickly how to help the team and how to help myself,” Bona also talked about his first year in the NBA.
Over 57 appearances in the 2024-25 Regular Season, including ten starts under head coach Nick Nurse, he tallied 5.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 0.5 assists, and 0.4 steals per contest.