Hello Arik,
The dataBound event is triggered when the widget list is bound to its data regardless of the serverFiltering option and this behavior is implemented by design. When filtering the data, the list of the widget is rebound with the new options, thus the event gets triggered.
The dataBound event also fires upon initial load (depending on the autoBind option), while the filtering event triggers only when the widget is about to filter the dataSource and contains the filter descriptor in the event data.
Do you have any specific scenario, with which you are struggling to configure the widget? If this is the case, then you can share it here, so that I can have a look. Alternatively, you can open a separate support ticket, where we can continue our discussion.
Regards,
Dimitar
Progress Telerik