Jonah Bolden

Jonah Anthony Bolden (born 2 January 1996) is an Australian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL).

He also played for the Australia national under-19 basketball team in the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.

Bolden was born in Melbourne to an American father Bruce Bolden and Egyptian mother Marie Therese Yacoub.

He has a younger sister Cairo Bolden.

His mother is an author, screenwriter and producer.

His father played professional basketball, including 17 years in the National Basketball League in Australia.

Jonah grew up in Sydney and began playing basketball for the Bankstown Bruins at five years of age.

As a teenager, he attended Homebush Boys High School and was first selected to represent his home state of New South Wales at the 2013 Basketball Australia Under 18 National Championships.

Bolden led the NSW Metro state team to the national final by averaging 18 ppg and 13 rpg throughout the competition and his outstanding performance in the national championships saw him selected as the youngest player to represent Australia at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.

In August 2013, he relocated to the United States to play as a senior at Findlay College Prep, a private preparatory school in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas.

However, his high school eligibility expired after his first semester and he transferred midseason to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.

In December 2013, Bolden chose to play college basketball at UCLA over Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana, USC and SMU.

A consensus four-star recruit, he was listed as the No. 25 player in his class by Scout.com, No. 32 by Rivals.com, and No. 69 by ESPN.com, while also being ranked as the No. 5 power forward by Scout.com.

Bolden was ineligible to play with the Bruins in his freshman year in 2014–15 after the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ruled him a partial qualifier due to his transferring as a high school senior.

After playing with UCLA as a sophomore, Bolden left the school and played one season with FMP.

Bolden was a redshirt in his freshman year at UCLA after he was ruled ineligible to play in 2014–15.

Before the season, the NCAA declared him a partial qualifier, stemming from his transfer from Australia when his senior year in high school has already began.

In January 2015, he was cleared by the NCAA to practice with the Bruins.

In May, he underwent arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee that was expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks.

A 6 ft guard capable of playing either forward position, Bolden entered 2015–16 as the Bruins' projected replacement for wing player Norman Powell and combo forward Kevon Looney, who both moved on to the National Basketball Association (NBA).

However, his college debut was delayed after he violated unspecified team rules and was held out of UCLA's season opener, an 84–81 upset loss to Monmouth.

He made his first appearance the following game, making an impact on defense while scoring 11 points and adding five rebounds in an 88–83 win over Cal Poly.

On 12 December, Bolden played 30 minutes and had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double in a 71–66 road win over No. 20 Gonzaga.

UCLA coach Steve Alford inserted him into the game to guard a hot Kyle Wiltjer, who finished with 20 points but shot only 4 of 12 for the remainder of the game.

Tony Parker had the initial defensive assignment, but Bolden provided more athleticism and mobility.

In the following game against Louisiana–Lafayette, Bolden made his first career start when center Thomas Welsh was out sick, and the Bruins won 89–80.

While he emerged as UCLA's top player off the bench, Bolden's impact on offense was minimal.

After UCLA struggled on defense while starting 3–5 in their Pac-12 Conference schedule, Alford believed their front court was "slow" and moved Bolden into the starting lineup at power forward in place of Parker against Washington State.

Bolden scored only three points, but his defense helped the team win 83–50 for their widest margin of victory of the season.

On 14 February 2016, he led the team with a career-high 16 points to go with nine rebounds in a 78–65 win over Arizona State.

The Bruins lost their final five games of the season to finish with a 15–17 record.

Bolden made 11 starts, and averaged 4.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 21.7 minutes in 31 games.

He ranked third on the team with 27 blocks.

Bolden felt that he was underutilized during his first season.

During the offseason, he hoped to move to small forward, the position he was recruited to play, but he remained in a big man role, even with reserve György Golomán healthy again.

He started his professional career with FMP in Serbia, where he was named the ABA League Top Prospect in 2017.

He played a season-and-a-half with the Philadelphia 76ers before joining the Phoenix Suns.

Bolden is the son of an American former pro basketball player Bruce Bolden, and moved to the United States as a senior in high school.

A highly ranked college recruit, he played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins.

He was selected by Philadelphia in the second round of the 2017 NBA draft with the 36th overall pick, but played one season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before joining the 76ers.