Kelly Oubre Jr. instantly noticed Adem Bona as he walked into a back room at SPIN in Center City on Saturday afternoon, then wrapped his teammate into a hug. <\/p>\n
Those types of greetings surely have been common in recent days, with 76ers<\/a> players and staff reconvening in Philly for informal workouts and pickup games ahead of the preseason. But Oubre\u2019s enthusiastic reaction to Bona was understandable, given that the second-year big man had just gotten back to town after winning the EuroBasket silver medal with Turkey. <\/p>\n Bona now hopes he can apply that big-stage international experience with the Sixers, a team aiming for a significant turnaround following a disastrous 2024-25 season. <\/p>\n \u201cNow I already have a sense of what it feels like playing for a game where everything matters,\u201d Bona said at a fundraiser for the Battier Take Charge Foundation, a mentorship program that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey helped launch at Camden Academy Charter School. \u201cEvery play, every defensive stop matters.\u201d <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Sixers bringing back iconic black jerseys as alternate for upcoming season<\/a><\/p>\n It was a special run for Turkey, which reached the tournament final for the first time in 24 years. Bona, who was born in Nigeria, became a Turkish citizen in 2018 after playing for Istanbul Basket as a teenager and then for the national team in the U16 and U18 FIBA European Championships. At EuroBasket, Bona was a teammate of former Sixer Furkan Korkmaz. <\/p>\n Bona ranked seventh in EuroBasket in blocks (1.4 per game), and averaged 5.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in those nine games. During its stunning run to the championship game, Turkey beat Nikola Joki\u0107\u2019s Serbia in group play, then Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s Greece in the semifinals. Turkey was anchored by Houston Rockets standout Alperen Seng\u00fcn, whom Bona said he has played with and against since they were teenagers. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel we had the talent. We had a connection. We had a youthfulness,\u201d Bona said of his Turkish team. \u201c\u2026 Once the tournament started, I think the whole team, we were all set on the goal where we really wanted to make it far in the tournament. Every single win, it just felt like \u2018All right, now for the next one.\u2019 We just kept on pushing. We didn\u2019t take it back like, \u2018Oh my God, we just won again!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the tournament, after we had the silver medal, we were like, \u2018Oh my God, we made history.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Photos of slimmed-down Joel Embiid have Sixers fans buzzing<\/a><\/p>\n EuroBasket was one portion of a busy offseason for Bona, who also became a leader for the Sixers\u2019 summer league team. That followed a strong finish to his rookie season<\/a>, when Bona stepped into a prominent role<\/a> as the Sixers dealt with numerous injuries and shifted into \u201ctank\u201d mode to increase their lottery odds for a high draft pick. <\/p>\n Bona averaged 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and 1.1 steals in his final 15 games last season, impressing with his athleticism and high motor. Morey said Saturday that he recognized parallels between how Bona finished his season with the Sixers and how his EuroBasket impact increased throughout the tournament. <\/p>\n \u201cTo also do it on the highest stage in the offseason,\u201d Morey said of Bona, \u201cI think just has him come [into this Sixers season] with a lot of confidence. Just like our season, he improved and played more minutes and did more with the Turkish team as it went along. <\/p>\n \u201cIt just shows his trajectory is on the up and up.\u201d <\/p>\n