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Egor Demin is on the verge of becoming the first Russian-born player drafted by an NBA team since … Sergey Karasev in 2013. “Well, that means a lot,” Demin told The Athletic. “Obviously, everybody knows about Andrei Kirilenko, the legend of Russian basketball. A lot more Russian legends that got to the NBA, and even though maybe they didn’t spend as much time in the NBA as they wanted to, they had great careers back in Russia in EuroLeague and became legends. And I was growing up looking up to Alexey Shved, playing in Khimki, and he was in the NBA, too. “So for me, all these players are a huge example and learning resource.”
Former Mavericks player Antonius Cleveland signed with Russian team CSKA Moscow until the 2026-27 season.
Andrei Kirilenko, now ten years into his presidency, said Russia has not played top-level basketball in five years due to Covid and sanctions. “We want to come back. It’s unfair that Russian basketball is absent,” he stated, thanking FIBA for ongoing updates. A key point was the role of CSKA Moscow in EuroLeague politics. “The club votes but cannot play – it’s absurd,” said Kirilenko. He argued that CSKA’s return would facilitate the Federation’s reinstatement by the IOC, which acts more easily when clear cases are presented.
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And while it’s only a couple of months, there’s a lot on the line—and the pressure is high. This process is no joke. But this first phase happens entirely behind closed doors. It’s not the time for glitz and glam. It’s more like Rocky IV, when Rocky heads to Russia to prepare for the fight against Drago—no frills, just relentless work and discipline. Wake up, train, train again, eat, sleep, and do it again the next day. Rinse and repeat. There’s no way to sugarcoat it—it’s a grind.
SBUnfurled: Ilya Ermakov has committed to St. Bonaventure. The 6-3 Russian PG most recently played for Russia Superleague's CSKA Moscow II, where he averaged 13/5/4 on 48% FG (37-122 3PT) in 26 MPG. He'll enroll as a freshman and turn 18 in August.
Reserve center Alex Len, one of two Ukrainian players active in the NBA, said he’s seen public support for his country’s fight against Russia wane since the war’s first days, and he’s hoping the news coverage of the argument between America’s and Ukraine’s political leaders can be a step toward resolution. “At the end of the day, we all want just one thing — for the war to stop and for everybody to feel safe again,” Len told The Times on Sunday. “I think that’s the end goal of this whole thing. People just want to live normal life. Like my friends and family that I talked to back home, everybody wants that. … We’re tired of the war. We want the war to stop and we want to come back to normal life and just, live normal life. “Cause this is crazy.”
Len said he thinks Ukraine needs more than a deal ensuring the war’s end — the message he hopes people take out of the Trump-Vance-Zelensky news conference. “They responded very emotionally. But hopefully they’ll be able to come up with a solution to finally stop the war and in a way that Ukraine is protected,” Len said. “Because all Zelensky said is, ‘Yeah, we want a ceasefire. But in the past, Putin broke this ceasefire so many times. We need security to make sure when the ceasefire is not enough. He signed it so many times, and he broke it, and we’re still getting attacked. What’s the purpose of ceasefire? We need more than just ceasefire.”
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Former Timberwolves player Alexey Shved signs with Russian team Zenit St. Petersburg for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
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