[1][2] He grew up playing association football as a midfielder but switched to basketball due to his height.

[4] At age 13, Bona moved to Turkey, leaving behind the rest of his family, and began his career with Istanbul Basket.

[6] On 30 October 2019, Bona made his professional debut for Pınar Karşıyaka, playing one minute in a 77–57 win over Donar in the FIBA Europe Cup.

[7] On 16 November, he debuted in the Basketball Super League (BSL), scoring two points in an 84–55 victory over Galatasaray.

Sources: As a freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2022–23, Bona improved after about a month of foul trouble and dropped passes.

[10][11][12] He won consecutive freshman of the week honors after grabbing 10 rebounds along with two blocked shots to help UCLA beat USC.

[21] While recovering from his injury, Bona added a midrange jump shot and post moves to his offensive game.

[25][26] Bona was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, the second consecutive Bruin to win the award after Jaylen Clark in 2023.

[32] At the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship in Udine, Bona averaged 14.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, and four blocks per game, leading Turkey to fifth place.

[33] Source:[34] In April 2018, Okoro became a Turkish citizen and officially changed his name to Adem Bona.