Yahir Gael Bonilla Silva (born 26 February 2003) is a Mexican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Ángeles de la Ciudad de México The Ángeles de la Ciudad de México (English: ''Mexico City Angels'') are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Mexico City. The Ángeles are members of the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico (CIBACOPA) and play their games ...

of the CIBACOPA, and the Mexican national team. He is considered one of the most promising young talents of Mexican basketball.

Early years

Bonilla is the youngest of two siblings born to Edgar Bonilla and Paola Silva, and grew up in the Jardines de Morelos neighborhood. His father played a key role in his decision to pursue basketball. From a very young age, Bonilla stood out on the court thanks to his father and his brother, Rasheed, with whom he would play 21-point games for hours. Bonilla played basketball at Colegio San Carlos, which later retired his No. 7 jersey. His arrival in Spain was the result of three consecutive years of participation in Giovanni Rivera's camp. In 2012, at nine years old, Bonilla caught the attention of Canarias Basketball Academy. He then drew the attention of the two most popular and powerful teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona, signing with the latter ahead of the next season of the Spanish championship in the Cadete category (under-16).

Professional career

In the 2020/21 season, Bonilla was part of the

FC Barcelona Bàsquet FC Barcelona Bàsquet (English: FC Barcelona Basketball), commonly referred to as FC Barcelona () and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional basketball team based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a part of the FC Barcelona sport ...

B team, playing 14 matches in the

Segunda FEB The Segunda FEB, formerly known as LEB 2 and LEB Plata, is the third basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system and the second basketball division organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. Since 2019, three teams are promoted ...

and the Adidas Next Generation circuit. He participated in seven games in this circuit, starting three, and averaged 10.3 points on 55 percent shooting, 77.8 percent from the free-throw line, and 28 percent from three-point range. Bonilla finished the Adidas NGT season as the second-leading scorer and assist leader for Barcelona, and was third in rebounds. In the 2021/22 season, he remained in the FC Barcelona B team, playing in the Liga EBA. In 24 games, he averaged 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2 steals per game. He was called up to the first team for two Euroleague games, making his debut on March 25 against Fenerbahçe. In the 2022/23 season, he stayed with the Barcelona B team, starting the season and playing six games, averaging 14.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 3.5 assists, and 1 block, being one of the standout players in the competition before leaving in early January. On January 7, 2023, Bonilla signed with the

Mexico City Capitanes The Mexico City Capitanes () are a Mexican professional basketball team based in Mexico City. The Capitanes competed as a member club in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP) for its first three seasons and the franchise is currently ...

for the 2022-2023 NBA G League season. He became the third active Mexican player in the franchise, joining Moisés Andriassi and

Orlando Méndez-Valdez Orlando Homer Méndez-Valdez (born April 29, 1986) is an American-born Mexican former professional basketball player who is currently the General manager of the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Wester ...

. Bonilla played 20 games, averaging 2.5 points and 2.6 rebounds in almost 11 minutes per game, before returning to FC Barcelona in March. In April 2023, he announced his intention to declare for the

2023 NBA Draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

, but withdrew his name a few days before the event. After parting ways with FC Barcelona, on June 28, 2023, he signed with

Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto, also named as Cáceres Patrimonio de la Humanidad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. It plays in the LEB Oro, the second in importance in Spain after A ...

, a team in the Spanish second-tier Liga LEB Oro. During the 2023/24 season, he played 33 games, averaging 7.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. On May 21, 2024, he was announced as the first signing in the history of the

Diablos Rojos del México The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their ho ...

in the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Grupo Caliente, Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 1 ...

(LNBP). On February 4, 2025, he signed with the

of the CIBACOPA.

National team career

Bonilla attended the pre-selection training camp for the U-15 national team ahead of the Centrobasket. However, he was unable to attend the next pre-selection camp due to a commitment with FC Barcelona. Bonilla led Mexico to a gold medal at the 2019

FIBA U17 Centrobasket The FIBA U17 Centrobasket is a men's under-17 basketball tournament held every two years among 31 countries of Central America and the Caribbean and is organized in part by FIBA Americas. The tournament serves as a gateway to the FIBA Under-18 A ...

, recording 18 points and 13 rebounds in the final. Bonilla earned a silver medal at the

2023 Central American and Caribbean Games The 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish language, Spanish: Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe San Salvador 2023), also known as the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games and commonly known as San Salvador 2023, wa ...

. He later played in the

2023 FIBA World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 25 August to 10 September 2023. The tournament was the second to feature 32 teams and was hosted by multipl ...

held in Asia, where they finished in 25th place.

References

External links

FIBA profile

Latinbasket profile

Real GM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonilla, Gael 2003 births Living people 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Basketball players at the 2023 Pan American Games Basketball players from the State of Mexico Mexican expatriate basketball people in Spain Mexican men's basketball players Mexico City Capitanes players Sportspeople from Ecatepec de Morelos Shooting guards 21st-century Mexican sportsmen Ángeles de la Ciudad de México players Diablos Rojos del México basketball players FC Barcelona Bàsquet players Cáceres Ciudad del Baloncesto players