Born in Riverside, California to Patricia (nee Howard) and former major leaguer Bobby Bonds, Bonds grew up in San Carlos and attended Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, where he excelled in baseball, basketball, and football. He played on the junior varsity team during his freshman year and the remainder of his high school career on the varsity team. He garnered a .467 batting average his senior year, and was named prep All-American. The Giants drafted Bonds in the second round of the 1982 MLB draft as a high school senior, but the Giants and Bonds were unable to agree on contract terms when Tom Haller's maximum offer was $70,000 ($177,510 today) and Bond's minimum to go pro was $75,000, so Bonds instead decided to attend college.

During his playing career, Bonds was frequently described as a difficult person, surly, standoffish and ungrateful, among other unflattering adjectives. However, in one interview with Terence Moore in 2016, he acknowledged regret over the persona which he had created. He attributed it to a response to the pressure he felt to perform as a young player with the Pirates. Remarked Bonds, Hell, I kick myself now, because I'm getting great press [since being more cooperative], and I could have had a trillion more endorsements, but that wasn't my driving force. The problem was, when I tried to give in a little bit, it never got better. I knew I was in the midst of that image, and I determined at that point that I was never going to get out of it. So I just said, 'I've created this fire around me, and I'm stuck in it, so I might as well live with the flames'. Bonds reports that for a short time during his playing days with the Giants he changed his demeanor at the behest of a group of teammates, resulting in him smiling much more frequently and engaging more with others with a pleasant demeanor. Shortly thereafter, Bonds says, in the midst of a slump, the same group of teammates pleaded that he revert, having seemingly lost his competitive edge, and causing the team lose more. In spite of his protest that they would not appreciate the results, his teammates insisted. Bonds says he complied, maintaining that familiar standoffish edge the rest of his playing career.

What did he change to?
resulting in him smiling much more frequently and engaging more with others with a pleasant demeanor.