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Barry Bonds before and after photos: A timeline of changes from 1986 MLB debut to now
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Barry Bonds is baseball’s all-time home run leader, but he’s taking on a new role for one night: NBA All-Star Celebrity Game coach.
Bonds and 2 Chainz will serve as the coaches for one of two Celebrity Game teams, with a roster that features Kai Cenat, Baron Davis and Noah Kahan.
The NBA is celebrating the Bay Area throughout All-Star Weekend, with Bonds and Jerry Rice as Celebrity Game coaches and former Warriors players, from Davis to Matt Barnes and Jason Richardson, playing prominent roles in the festivities.
The Bonds you see right now, however, might look strikingly different than the Bonds that played for the Giants.
Here’s a look at Bonds throughout his baseball journey, from 1986 through his post-playing career.
MORE: Complete look at NBA All-Star Celebrity Game rosters
Fans took note of changes in Bonds’ physique during his MLB career, and those changes actually wound up becoming a central part of the steroid allegations against the all-time home run leader.
Witnesses close to Bonds testified that his hat and shoe size both grew during his time with his Giants, claiming the unusual changes were evidence of steroid use. One of Bonds’ former girlfriends also testified that he experienced other physical changes as a result of steroid use, including loss of hair.
Here’s a look at Bonds through the years, from his 1986 debut with the Pirates to today.
MORE: Complete guide to NBA All-Star Weekend
Everyone experiences physical changes — in many cases, significant physical changes — over a two-decade period of their life. For Bonds, however, the changes were tough for some fans to ignore, as many noticed a shift in the shape of his head and body type during the 1990s and into the early 2000s.
For the most part, Bonds has appeared thinner during his post-playing career than he was during much of his tenure with the Giants.
The steroid allegations, some of which Bonds has admitted to, have followed him into retirement, as he failed to crack the necessary 75 percent vote threshold to make the Hall of Fame despite otherworldly production during his career.
Whether fair or not, his body shape is one piece of evidence many have pointed to as evidence that something was amiss during the height of his career.
BAY AREA MOUNT RUSHMORE: Essays, highlights, TSN archives of Rice, Curry, Bonds, Montana
Dan Treacy is a content producer for Sporting News, joining in 2022 after graduating from Boston University. He founded @allsportsnews on Instagram in 2012 and has written for Lineups and Yardbarker.
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Barry Bonds before and after photos
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Did Barry Bonds play basketball? Revisiting MLB legend’s multi-sport high school career
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The stars will be out in the Bay Area during NBA All-Star weekend, and that means much more than just NBA stars.
The All-Star Celebrity Game features a blend of current athletes, former athletes, musicians, streamers and more, even right down to the coaches. Former MLB slugger Barry Bonds and NFL great Jerry Rice, both household names who played in the Bay Area, will serve as the game’s head coaches on Friday.
Bonds is MLB’s all-time home run leader and spent his best seasons with the Giants, even if some now see them as tainted by steroid allegations.
Fans know what Bonds could do on the diamond, but does he have any basketball experience he can lean on for the Celebrity Game?
Here’s a look back at Bonds’ basketball playing days.
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Not much is known about Bonds’ basketball career, but he “starred” on the court while at Junipero Serra High School, according to the LA Times.
Bonds considered his baseball and basketball coaches “father figures” while his own father was on the road as an MLB player, so basketball played a role in shaping his life even if it wasn’t his best sport.
Bonds is 6-2, so as a high schooler, he had the height to compete on the basketball court. Bonds also played football in high school.
While his athleticism made him a three-sport athlete in high school, Bonds was part of a baseball family. He focused on baseball at Arizona State and became the No. 6 pick of the 1985 MLB Draft when the Pirates selected him.
A Bay Area legend who spent 15 years with the Giants, Bonds returns home not for baseball, but to coach a basketball team that includes Kai Cenat and Noah Kahan.
Bonds participated in the 1992 Foot Locker Slam Fest alongside Ken Griffey Jr., Deion Sanders and other non-NBA athletes.
There are no clips available from Bonds’ competitive basketball days at Junipero Serra High School, but even as a major leaguer, he had some hops.
MORE: 2025 NBA All-Star Game rosters, replacements
* – All-time record
Bonds’ decision to pursue baseball was the right one. He put together a masterful 22-year MLB career, becoming the all-time home run leader with 762 and winning seven MVP awards.
While Bonds didn’t win a championship, he had one of the greatest offensive careers in MLB history and might not ever see his home run or walk records broken.
Steroid allegations, some of which Bonds admitted to, have clouded his career since it ended in 2007. His stretch from 2001-04, during which time he hit .349, won four consecutive MVPs and broke the single-season home run record, is marred by reported positive steroid tests. Those allegations were enough to keep him out of the Hall of Fame.
Still, Bonds is a revered figure in the Bay Area. San Francisco even declared Feb. 5 as “Barry Bonds Day” earlier this month because the date reads 2-5-25 and he wore the No. 25 with the Giants.
Dan Treacy is a content producer for Sporting News, joining in 2022 after graduating from Boston University. He founded @allsportsnews on Instagram in 2012 and has written for Lineups and Yardbarker.
IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS A GAMBLING PROBLEM, HELP IS AVAILABLE.
PLEASE GAMBLE RESPONSIBLY. VISIT WWW.GAMBLEAWARE.ORG
Did Barry Bonds play basketball?
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| Seasons | 22 |
| Games | 2,986 |
| AVG | .298 |
| HR | 762* |
| RBI | 1,996 |
| OPS | 1.051 |
| Hits | 2,935 |
| Walks | 2,558* |
| bWAR | 162.8* |
| MVPs | 7 |
