- 6/25/2025
Russian NBA prospect Egor Demin opens up on his journey, draft prep, and basketball inspirations.
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00:00For me, coming from Russia, it was hard to believe that it can be real.
00:03All the Russian players that were playing in the NBA, it's a huge example for me of just,
00:08okay, that's possible, you know? It's not like going to space and it's not somewhere like
00:13not reachable, right? This is pretty much reachable.
00:23What three NBA players, either current or former, would you say that you try to model your game
00:29after? It's hard to tell who exactly I'm modeling for, right? Because obviously everybody is
00:34different and I'm not trying to be somebody. I'm trying to be myself, but I'm trying to build my
00:39own model of what I'm trying to be in the future with some pieces that I'm taking from different
00:46players. I have this kind of like a base of five players that I'm looking at the most while watching
00:54film, right? Kind of learning from them and taking their best qualities. Shea and Luca is obviously
01:00something more like overall. So it's probably closer to the answer on your question of just like the
01:07model of what I'm trying to be, right? So they are kind of the overall study. And other three players
01:15is Danny Avdija, Kate Cunningham and Franz Wagner. It's those three players is probably the biggest
01:23key for me to learn from. It's just, you know, like their, some of the pieces from their game that I can
01:29apply to my game and, you know, using my size as all of them pretty much, right? Using the physicality
01:37of Danny and how he controls his body, uh, overall the game reading of Franz, how he, you know, being
01:46able to finish with either hand, either leg, either his floor, uh, pull up, fadeaways, whatever it is,
01:52right? Playing from the low post, playing from corners, playing from, he knows how to play basketball
01:57from any spot on the floor. And obviously Kate is probably the role model for me as a point guard,
02:06right? As a, as a position wise, because obviously Danny and Franz is not as much of a position I'm
02:13looking for playing, but Kate is right. Like where I feel myself the most, the most comfortable is on
02:19the ball. So looking at his change of pace, uh, not just front and back, but side to side and up and
02:27down, you know, being able to control his body, how he wants to, uh, to do that, making, making defense
02:33react on him, right? And not letting defense control him, uh, as offensive player. And I mean,
02:40again, just all three levels of offense, the, you know, the three point shot, mid range and
02:47finishing. It's all of it. I'm learning a lot from these players. What parts of your game would
02:52you say that you're still working, um, to improve upon? You mentioned, you know, um, the three levels
02:57of scoring, it's there, uh, uh, offensively or defensively. What are you, uh, prioritizing to
03:03continue to improve in the lead up to the draft? Well, obviously a lot of focuses on, on shooting
03:08since, uh, a lot of people were questioning this part of my game. And this is something where I'm
03:14trying to prove myself that it's not really true. What is all, what is the all talk about? Right.
03:21So for me, it's a lot of focus on shooting. And obviously, again, as you repeat, um, three levels
03:28of offense, the three point mid range and finishing, we work on all of it. I'm looking forward, uh,
03:35you know, of being a player that can go off the ball, on the ball, pick and roll. I can be the
03:42screener. I can be cutting. I can, uh, stretch the floor. I can run so I can do pretty much everything.
03:48I want to, I'm seeing myself in this type of situation where I'm really doing whatever you
03:53as a coach need for me. So I understand you just went through the NBA draft combine. How have you
03:59been enjoying the pre-draft process so far? And what was that like, uh, this past week?
04:03It was good. I mean, you know, we spent the pre pre combine preparation was about five or four weeks,
04:10uh, really intense me alone working out with also with some other guys, sometimes,
04:16you know, kind of combining both of it, getting ready for drills and all that. So it was pretty
04:22fun. I mean, being in LA, it's already pretty cool. You know, and obviously Zach Gonzalez,
04:27the coach, uh, I'm working out with is amazing. And it's, it's a huge experience for me to be able
04:33to learn from him and from his experience that he learned from other people. So that was great.
04:39What have you been able to learn from, from Zach specifically that you've been able to kind
04:43of apply in some of those drills and that you're looking to take to the league, uh, really in a
04:47few months here, obviously our goal was to bring that intensity into the workouts and work out as,
04:54as intense as we could. So I can go to the combine and really be the most intensive player, right?
05:03Out of all of them. And really can show that I can do drills while I'm tired, right? Right.
05:09While, while I'm sweating, while I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm bringing that intensity, uh, and as a first
05:14plan. And because we believe that it's so much more important to be able to have this energy in you
05:22and make shots while you're tired in the game speed, right? And not just be working out walking
05:31or, you know, 40% of, uh, your effort, uh, because then you go to the game and the intensity is so
05:39much higher and now you're not making shots. And I think that's, that was the key for us to,
05:45to learn. How do you, uh, feel that you did in that regard, uh, just as far as, uh, being able to
05:50perform while you retired and then just kind of your performance overall. My goal was to show them
05:55that I can be, uh, I can bring the intensity and I give my best effort. And I think I did good
06:03with just showing them that, you know, I, I know why I'm, why I'm here for. Yeah. It was,
06:08it was a great experience just to speak with all these, uh, you know, coaches that were helping us
06:13on the shooting drills and, uh, with other players and just see how it is, right. Just
06:18having the logo on my chest. And it was amazing. That's a dream.
06:21You know, there's, uh, maybe less Russian role models, uh, you know, in the NBA for you
06:26to look up to, and maybe you can be that for this next generation of, of basketball players and
06:32maybe future NBA players in Russia. How do you view your role there? And were there any, um, of the,
06:38uh, former, uh, um, Russian NBA players that you kind of, uh, uh, looked up to, you know, I think a
06:43lot of people don't realize how big it is for me and my family and my country, obviously, you know,
06:50playing, being in a, as an American player, you, you leave with this idea of,
06:56reality. You kind of like, you know, that it's going to happen if you do, uh, right things, right?
07:03So you expecting this to happen for me coming from Russia, it was hard to believe that it can be
07:09real. And we did, uh, these small steps that kind of get me closer to this point where I can really
07:15say, okay, that's, that's another step of my life. That's going to happen, you know, anyway, because I
07:22did a lot of work, uh, to get here. It's a huge, like all the Russian players that were playing
07:28in an NBA, it's a huge example for me of just, okay, that's possible. You know, it's not like
07:34going to space and it's not somewhere like not reachable, right? This is, this is pretty much
07:40reachable, right? And knowing the, a little bit of the history, right? Of the Russian basketball
07:44being in NBA, it gives me even more confidence than I can be successful, right? Obviously looking
07:52at, uh, Andrei Kirilenko and, you know, him being an all-star, you know, playing for several years in
07:58NBA, it's, you know, it's a motivation for me to, to reach that level, right? Because I know now that
08:06it's possible for me and, you know, as you said, just, yeah, that's probably my biggest goal is
08:13just like, how can I help my country, right? Uh, basketball wise and whatever it is, right? Uh,
08:20how can I invest into that, uh, getting on this level and, you know, and maybe inspire somebody.
08:27And this is probably the biggest accomplishment for me. Uh, if I can reach that point, it would be
08:34probably my biggest, you know, goal. And you had a very unique journey so far, as you said,
08:40having played overseas and then this past season at BYU, how has your game kind of evolved, um,
08:45through these different stops? And if you could say how, how the game is different at these different
08:50levels, you know, I understand, you know, you're a league a little bit different than the NBA and
08:53then college basketball, you know, different and, and, and so on. I think the, the Spain, it was
08:58probably the first, well, not probably, it was the first kind of the step that changed everything
09:04in a, like big picture of it, right? The big picture of my life, kind of, obviously the new
09:09country, new language, new people, new team. Before that moment, I played for one team for the,
09:15you know, 10 years. So it was a different coach. So now I gotta get really adjust myself. I gotta learn
09:22how to get used to new things, right? I gotta, I gotta learn languages. I didn't know Spanish.
09:28I didn't know English. So it was super stressful environment that kind of made me grow. We have
09:36this example in Russia. I don't know if it's a thing in America. Um, if, if, you know, people would
09:41joke, if the kid doesn't know how to swim, just throw him into the water and he's going to learn
09:45it himself. It was pretty much like that, you know, so I got thrown in there, but because I wanted
09:52to, right. And I was ready for those kinds of challenges and adversity and that, that made me
09:59grow so much. So I think the Spain was a huge part of my personality and my character, right? My
10:06efforts and whatever I give right now to the sport, to the basketball, right? So that was a big stage of
10:12growth. And obviously the base, this like really important base for me for basketball as a European
10:20player, a really important base of European basketball that I have in my profile sort of
10:27thing. Yeah. The Madrid developed me so much and there was a huge and super important three years
10:34over there. Obviously after that, uh, again, it was, you know, I, I, I had, I had, um, options of
10:42going pro, uh, over there in Spain or in Europe or back in Russia, but we decided that we shouldn't rush
10:51and not, we shouldn't go for, you know, kind of like big, like too big, too big of a goal right now,
10:59right? Too big of a step. Obviously, you know, there's a big risk of not getting minutes of not,
11:04you know, being able to be on that level yet. Just because I never seen that before, right? I was always
11:12playing with my age or like a little bit older guys, a little bit younger. So it wasn't, it was
11:16never a professional level. So it was pretty risky. And at this point, um, college was kind of like a
11:23little step in between those levels of pro and the youth, right? The college for me was kind of like
11:31this transitional level of really understanding what is grown man basketball about. And obviously
11:38my goal was to learn about American basketball since it's very different, you know, from European
11:45and I knew that. And obviously my goal is to be an NBA, which is American basketball. So I gotta be in
11:53that environment and I gotta get used to it first. I need to get used to this environment before I
12:00step into this highest level possible, right? So for me, the season at BYU was amazing experience of
12:08just obviously big 12 is the most physical conference probably. And I was, I got what I
12:15was looking for. I got that physicality that I needed to learn. What is it all about? Right.
12:20It was a great, uh, season at BYU. Uh, you, you earned, you know, uh, um, big 12 honors and,
12:26you know, a trip to the sweet 16, um, that it seems like the program is really ascendant,
12:31you know, to land, uh, a highly touted international prospect like yourself, new coach, a deep, uh,
12:38tournament run, and now, uh, number one recruit coming in, uh, you know, for the Cougars. I understand
12:43you're only there for, for a season, but how do you, what do you sort of attribute this, this rise
12:47to? And I guess in the, in the same vein, what was appealing to you about, about being back?
12:53I think BYU is a, is an amazing program. And I had a chance to participate in this kind of like
13:01waking up season, right? So BYU was there for a long time, but, and it was, it had successful
13:08seasons, but then for a period of time, it was kind of asleep. And, you know, that was my goal
13:15to really not just be there and say, Hey guys, I'm one and done. I'm going to take, and I'm going to
13:21leave. And I never came there with the idea of being one and done. I, I talked to coach, uh, and I
13:27said, Hey, I'm going to take my time and I'm going to take as much as I need to understand, you know,
13:34if it's the best choice for me to leave or not. So I was there with a goal of really giving from
13:42myself to, I wanted to keep a piece of myself. I wanted to, you know, invest into this because I
13:49knew how much they give to me, how much they develop me, how much they care for me. So I wanted
13:55to really make sure that I'm present. I wanted to make sure that, you know, they getting something
14:01back from me. And this is where the, all the motivation was coming from, uh, not only the game
14:06wise, but school, the classes, you know, the people, and I never been, I never didn't appreciate
14:13whatever BYU was about. Right. It was always, I was super happy to be there and I was super
14:20grateful to be there. Right. Because they were giving so much to me that it just hard to even,
14:26you know, explain. That's why it was really, uh, important for me to think twice because
14:34obviously, you know, it was attractive for me to stay one more year just to really fill it out and
14:40play with, you know, AJ, play with other guys, play with Richie one more year because we, we kind
14:46of got this, you know, the rhythm and now we are waking up. Like now we, the problem is waking up.
14:54Everything's waking up. Second season, I'm sure it's going to be even better than, than this first
14:59season for me and for Coach Young because everybody was a freshman at this point. So, and now there is
15:06nobody a freshman anymore. Even AJ, he's ready. He's ready to play. I'm pretty sure he's not a regular
15:12freshman coming to the league. So what will the next, uh, few weeks, uh, kind of look, look like for
15:17you? Um, obviously there's the time after the combine now is, um, the workouts with the teams.
15:24And we're going to figure out who am I going to go workout for and how's it going to look
15:30like, uh, in general. So, uh, this week I'm just working out over here, getting back, you know,
15:37kind of to the rhythm of, uh, to the working rhythm, right out of combine. And yeah, we will see.
15:45I'm going to keep enjoying the process and, you know, give my best to be a better player
15:52and a better person. So I'm going to keep learning.
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