While the Philadelphia 76ers are battling with thin depth at center, they received unfortunate news regarding Joel Embiid’s top backup, Adem Bona, this week.
The veteran center, who is dealing with a cervical spine sprain, saw a specialist recently. The 76ers announced to reporters that Bona is going to miss at least another week before getting re-evaluated.
On Thursday night, the Sixers are set to play the Toronto Raptors at home. They are looking to bounce back after a lousy showing against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
The Sixers had Joel Embiid in the mix for that game. The big man checked in for 31 minutes of action, scoring 16 points and coming down with six rebounds.
Jabari Walker continued to fill in for Bona, clocking 15 minutes of action. Walker went 1-for-3 from the field to score two points. He also came down with four rebounds.
Adem Bona’s 2026-2027 NBA Season
Before training camp, Bona faced a tough situation with the Sixers. He suffered a foot injury, which ended up sidelining him for the entire preseason.
Bona was ready for the regular season. He played throughout the first nine games for the 76ers as their primary backup, with his minutes fluctuating. While he mostly game off the bench, Bona did start the October 31 game against the Charlotte Hornets.
His last game was on November 4, against the Detroit Pistons. At the time, Bona checked out after seeing the court for 14 minutes. He left the game with five points and two rebounds in the Sixers’ 112-106 win over the Detroit Pistons.
In his nine showings this season, Bona has been shooting 38.1% from the field to score just 2.1 points per game. He was coming down with 3.9 rebounds per game and blocking 1.0 shots per game.
With his re-evaluation set for one week, Bona is set to miss at least the next four games, including Thursday’s action against the Raptors. If he’s cleared next week, Bona could return against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 21.
