"Demin came to the NBA for a long time"

At the age of 19, Russian basketball player Egor Demin continues his successful debut season overseas. The Brooklyn Nets point guard has received an invitation to the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, which will be held on the night of February 14, 2026. He will play for the first-year team (NBA Rookies). Sergey Kushchenko, president of the VTB United League, spoke about the details of the beginning of Demin's career overseas in an interview with Izvestia and SE. The functionary was a member of the Brooklyn Board of directors for a long time.

"If European basketball had a single line of tournaments, our sport would not have been lost"

— Is it possible to follow Yegor Demin's performance in the NBA?

— Absolutely! When time permits, I watch live, but most of the time I limit myself to highlights and in—depth statistics. I'm talking to Brooklyn's management. Egor's development is going according to plan. Of course, I want him to play 20 minutes in every match and score 18+ points. But the club believes that his talent requires a detailed and correct approach. They work a lot on the body. The transition from the NCAA to the NBA can be compared to two different planets. Lapping is underway, but Yegor is coping with it.

— After a while, can we say that Brooklyn has become the most suitable option for Demin?

— Brooklyn chose Egor for the task that is being performed today. They are betting on young talents who will take the franchise to another level in the future. For this reason, Yegor and other young players were drafted. For example, I really like Danny Wolf's progress — he can grow into the new Nikola Jokic. Brooklyn is trying to make a young team, and something may come of it. Look at Oklahoma, they've been building a team for many years and they won the title last season.

— Egor sets franchise records and performs consistently. Does this mean that he can achieve any great heights?

— He's definitely not a short-range player. His talent, training, skills and hard work show that he came to the NBA for a long time. The main thing is to understand the coaching idea.

— Andrey Vatutin told the story of how CSKA refused to sign NBA superstar Kevin Durant (in 2011 during the lockout) due to economic inexpediency. According to him, they wouldn't have made money even on T-shirts. Has marketing in Russian basketball changed in the last 10 years?

— Merch in Russia does not bring much income. It should be borne in mind that everywhere the population has a different level of earnings. Are Demin's T-shirts sold in Russia? Yes, they are being bought, but not in any large volumes.

— The NBA is considering the possibility of creating a tournament in Europe. How do you see it?

— With their capabilities, they will attract players to themselves, which, for example, could be obtained by Euroleague or VTB League clubs. There is a risk in this. But whether the NBA will enter Europe is still a big question. And what kind of rivalry can there be with the Euroleague, if in 25 years it has not learned how to sell its product and help clubs at all? It's not about sports, it's pure business. If the NBA succeeds in the Old World, it will need to understand how other market participants integrate into this story. We have to be in a single line.

In my opinion, European men's basketball did not become unified due to the conflict between FIBA and the Euroleague back in the noughties. Look at the football tournaments — the Champions League, the Europa League, the Conference League, everything is clear. A sponsor comes and says, "I want to finance football! How do I do this?" He is immediately answered: "Choose the level, how much you are willing to spend." And in basketball, a sponsor will come and say that he is ready to finance the Champions League — but this is only the third most powerful competition on the continent (the Euroleague and the European Cup are ranked higher). How can the sponsor figure out where the main competition is?

The key in this story is who will sell men's basketball so that Euroleague participants can compensate for at least 50% of the budget with prize money? The NBA sells its product for cosmic money, although it is obvious that there are objective circumstances for this. The NBA is the United States and Canada, a common legal area. It's more difficult in Europe, but it could be sorted out if we followed football right away. Then we would have a single line of tournaments, our sport would not be lost. Now, the confrontation between the parties continues.

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"People often ask, 'When will you be back?'

— There has been a lot of talk about the desire of the Russian and US football teams to hold a friendly match, and the idea of a game between the KHL and the NHL has been discussed. What about basketball?

— We also keep our finger on the pulse. For example, the NBA has a Global Game program. At the time when Mikhail Dmitrievich Prokhorov was the owner of Brooklyn and after, we made plans for the team to come to Moscow and hold pre-season matches. Then there was talk of an official game. There was a project according to which Brooklyn could play in France and Russia at the end of 2020 with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden. There was an agreement with Zenit's home arena, and there were plans for attendance records.

— It even made me sad.

— I mean, we always think about such projects. A window of opportunity will open, and this work will resume.

— In December, the IOC recommended full admission of youth teams from Russia. Is it possible to do this now?

— We are watching football, it is the litmus test of game sports. If Russian football teams are allowed to participate in youth competitions, then other game sports will gradually return to the international arena.

— Surely you have many colleagues and friends in the leadership of European basketball. Are they waiting for the final showdown?

— Absolutely. People often ask, "When will you be back?" Our task at this stage is to maintain a high level of basketball. And if our clubs come back, then, of course, it won't be easy. But our competitions are highly rated in Europe. We are not falling out of European basketball much, for which we thank our clubs very much (who continue to work actively in the transfer market and bring strong performers to Russia). Our All-Star Match is ringing in Europe, and we have brought the Super Cup with the participation of foreign teams, which was traditionally held in Moscow, to Serbia. We also organized an intra-season Cup with our betting partner Winline. So active work is underway on all fronts.

— The 10th All-Star Game in the history of the League will take place on February 15. Can the audience expect pleasant surprises?

— Absolutely. We are approaching the anniversary MVZ with big plans. It will be bright, unusual, and in a new way. Therefore, I advise basketball fans to buy tickets faster, which run out very quickly.