When the NCAA tourney got canceled in March we entered a whole new world, which included a sports void the likes of which we have never seen before. The fine folks at ESPN came to the rescue in mid-April with “The Last Dance”, a 10-part miniseries about the 1998 Chicago Bulls and their quest to win a 6th NBA title in an 8-year span before Coach Phil Jackson and most of his star players all went their separate ways. While it has been comforting to spend the past several Sunday nights with behind-the-scenes stories from Steve Kerr/Scottie Pippen/Dennis Rodman, the star of the show as always is Michael Jordan. Even though the documentary concluded on May 17th, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has dug through his archives and discovered oodles of unpublished interviews about Jordan’s career, from his early days as the leading scorer for team USA at the 1983 Pan Am Games to a 55-PT playoff performance during Chicago’s final title run in 1998. We continue our trip down memory lane by chatting with Anthony Bonner about beating the Bulls in the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals after Jordan had retired and watching Reggie Miller put up a Jordan-esque performance for the Pacers in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
(photo credit: ksdk.com)
In 1981 your older brother Irvin was shot/killed while home on leave from the Army: what impact did his death have on your life? I was in junior high school at the time and had been very active in football and the Boy Scouts but after his death I felt myself drifting toward people that I should not have been hanging out with.
In the 1989 NIT title game with St. Louis you had 11 PTS/11 REB in an 8-PT loss to St. John’s: how much of a home-court advantage did they have while playing at Madison Square Garden? I never really thought about it: they were just so much more physical than us as a Big East team with big guys like Jayson Williams. They were able to wear us down over the course of the game.
In March of 1990 you scored a school-record 45 PTS (including your team’s last 19 PTS in regulation) and had 20 REB in an OT win over Loyola Chicago: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? It kind of felt like that. It went into OT and we ran a play over and over called the “Bonner series” where the offense had to go through me. Loyola was a good team but they could not stop me so I just kept shooting.
You finished that season by leading the nation with 13.8 RPG: what is your secret for being a great rebounder? It was my most valuable attribute and helped me get into college and stay there. I am an aggressive person by nature and was blessed to learn what it took to play hard. Little did I know that it would help me get into the NBA: the key is to have the individual hunger for the ball.
You made it back to the NIT title game in 1990 and had 19 PTS/11 REB in a 2-PT loss to Vanderbilt: what was the feeling like in your locker room after your final college game? It was very sad to end that 4-year period both academically and athletically. I had no idea if I would be drafted and we had lost a championship game AGAIN…so it was a long night for sure.
You remain the all-time leading scorer/rebounder in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your records? I was a rebounder so I had no intention of being the all-time leading scorer: it just kind of happened thanks to a coaching staff that helped me maximize my skills. I think that someone will eventually break my record: they are exposed to the sport year-round via AAU and are bigger/stronger/faster.
In the summer of 1990 you were drafted 23rd overall by Sacramento (6 spots ahead of Toni Kukoc): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? I was really thankful to have an opportunity that I did not think was possible. I did not start playing basketball until high school, which is when I had a growth spurt. Nobody in my family had even gone to college so I had no sense of entitlement that I deserved to be a pro. I think God ordained it for my life.
Take me through the 1994 NBA playoffs as a player with the Knicks:
Kukoc made a 22-footer at the buzzer in a 2-PT win for the Bulls in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals: what did you think was going on after Scottie Pippen argued with Phil Jackson and was not on the court for the final play? I had no idea what was going on until after the game but I remember Pippen not being in the game at the end and Kukoc making the shot. It was not “bad blood” but rather “competitive blood”. Phil won 11 rings so he knew something that we did not!
Hubert Davis made 2 FTs with 2.1 seconds left in a 1-PT win in Game 5 after referee Hue Hollins called a foul on Pippen: did you think that it was the right call, and do you think that you would have lost the series if the call had gone the other way? Quite possibly…but I learned a long time ago that referees rarely change their calls. Pippen had to contest the shot because Davis was a great shooter. It was the right call so we have to live with it: they get it right more than 90% of the time.
In Game 4 of the Finals you beat Houston by 9 PTS, which was the night after the Rangers beat the Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals to end their 54-year championship drought: what was it like to be in the Big Apple the night before, and did the Rangers’ win have any impact on your own team? To be in NYC in the summer of 1994 was incredible! The Knicks had a drought of their own so it was a big deal everywhere in the city. Those kinds of moments do not come along all the time and are magical when they do. The city was so deserving: there are no fans as passionate/loyal and they are truthful whether you are playing good/bad.
In Game 7 John Starks shot 2-18 from the field in a 6-PT loss to Houston: was it surreal to be playing for a championship just 2 days after the OJ Simpson car chase, and did your team just ran out of gas after playing in an NBA-record 25 playoff games? The OJ thing was not a factor to us: I understand that the TV station broke into the game so the fans might have been captivated by it but the 12 guys in our locker room had the goal of being the last team to leave the court in 1994. The 25 playoffs games were grueling but there was no team that was better prepared/coached to handle such a playoff run with guys like Pat Riley/Jeff Van Gundy. We just ran into a resilient opponent.
Take me through the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals against Indiana:
Reggie Miller scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds to help the Pacers rally from a 6-PT deficit at the end of Game 1: where does that rank among the most clutch performances that you have ever seen? I would have to say it is #1 right now. I have seen Michael Jordan/Larry Bird do some amazing things but Reggie’s boldness/awareness to take the shots and know where he was standing on the court was phenomenal. I cannot even call it being in the zone: he had such disdain for the Knicks that it allowed him to go into a whole other stratosphere.
Patrick Ewing made the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds left in Game 5 but missed a finger roll in the final seconds of a 2-PT loss at home in Game 7: what made Ewing such a great player, and did you think that his finger roll was going in? I thought that every shot he took was going in: he was a great teammate who led by example. It was his team/his city/his time: nobody deserved a title more than he did. It was a heartbreaker but I was thankful to play in an era of guys who were skilled/tough. Ewing was a true professional.
After retiring you became a religious speaker: how do you enjoy your work, and what do you hope to do in the future? I am actually a minister who tries to live what is in the Bible and then share that with people who need answers. I try to encourage young people to be the best that they can be and honor what God has given them. It is more important to attain your purpose than to attain stuff.