Evgeniy Gorbunov: I always believed Egor Demin would become a top-level player
Early development and coaching
Evgeniy Gorbunov was the coach who helped lay the foundation for Egor Demin’s game. Demin continued his growth at Real Madrid and BYU before hearing his name called early on draft night as the No. 8 pick by the Brooklyn Nets. From the very beginning Gorbunov noticed something different in Egor: a high basketball IQ and a hunger to learn.
Even as a youngster, Demin kept notebooks with his own plays and scouting notes on opponents. He would arrive at practice ready to discuss game plans in detail, and that studying-at-home habit stuck with him as he climbed the ranks. Gorbunov says that attitude, combined with a strong work ethic and a lack of ego, made him stand out.
The coach’s individual work with Demin focused on versatility — teaching him to operate in multiple positions while emphasizing footwork, agility, and shooting off the dribble. They pushed his range beyond the line so that long-distance shooting would be comfortable later on. Those deliberate reps and technical focuses helped shape Demin into the guard he is today.
Rookie season and the road ahead
Demin’s transition to the NBA has been encouraging. After a college season where he averaged about 10.6 points, 5.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game, he has appeared in 39 games (32 starts) for Brooklyn this year, averaging roughly 10.2 points, 3.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds while shooting nearly 40% from three. That production put him among the top rookies in three-pointers made and assists and earned him a spot on the Rising Stars roster for the 2026 All-Star weekend.
Gorbunov says the early results are exactly the kind of gradual progress he expected. Young players need time to adapt to the NBA’s speed, physicality and game load, and Demin is doing that while showing steady improvement every game. Their mutual trust came from shared obsession with preparation — coach and player both committed to the work, and the results followed.
With a basketball family behind him — a father who played professionally, a mother who played into her late teens, and an older brother who trained seriously before an injury ended his career — Demin has the environment and support to keep developing. Gorbunov’s view is simple: don’t rush the process. Keep building step by step, and Demin should keep rising.
