Egor Demin’s 2025 Season Ends Before It Begins
The silence in the training facility was deafening. What was supposed to be a routine drill on a quiet Tuesday morning at CSKA Moscow’s basketball center turned into a devastating moment that sent shockwaves across the basketball world. Egor Demin, Russia’s rising star and one of Europe’s most promising young guards, collapsed clutching his right ankle — the scream that followed was enough to silence even the bouncing of the balls on the other end of the court.
An MRI later that day confirmed every coach’s and fan’s worst fear — a severe ligament tear, with an estimated recovery time stretching beyond twelve months. The diagnosis ruled him out for the entirety of the 2025 season.
Just 19, Demin had been tipped as a future NBA talent. Standing at 6’8″, with court vision far beyond his years and a defensive instinct that made scouts salivate, he was entering the season not just as CSKA’s key weapon, but as the symbol of Russian basketball’s resurgence. The EuroLeague had him circled as a breakout candidate, and whispers of a high NBA draft pick had grown into roars. That dream is now paused — not extinguished, but certainly deferred.
“This is one of the toughest moments of my life,” Demin said in a statement released through the team. “I’ve worked every day with one goal in mind: to compete, to grow, and to win. Now I have a new goal — to come back stronger.”
CSKA’s head coach, Andrey Maltsev, couldn’t mask his disappointment. “Egor is irreplaceable. Not just because of his skill, but because of his spirit. He’s one of those rare players who makes everyone better just by being on the court.”
The injury not only reshapes the team’s dynamics, but also the landscape of European basketball. With Demin sidelined, CSKA’s championship hopes take a significant blow. Sponsors, fans, and analysts are recalibrating expectations, while Demin begins a long, grueling journey behind the scenes — hours of physical therapy, incremental gains, the loneliness of the gym long after the lights of game night have dimmed.
For those who know him, though, doubt is not part of the equation.
“Egor is built different,” said former teammate and mentor Alexey Shved. “You don’t teach his hunger. This is a setback, yes. But knowing him, it’s also going to be a setup for something bigger.”
The world may not see Egor Demin on the court in 2025. But somewhere in the shadows of recovery, a comeback is already taking shape. And when he returns — and he will — the basketball world will remember this as the season he vanished only to reappear hungrier, smarter, and stronger.
