Former BYU Cougar Egor Dëmin set an NBA record in his return to Utah during Friday night’s game between the Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets, as he became the first NBA rookie to hit a 3-pointer in 34 consecutive games. Despite shooting only 27.3% from 3 his freshman year at BYU, he’s made it his biggest asset as an NBA player.
Former BYU Cougar Egor Dëmin set an NBA record in his return to Utah during Friday night’s game between the Jazz and the Brooklyn Nets, as he became the first NBA rookie to hit a 3-pointer in 34 consecutive games.
Despite shooting only 27.3% from 3 his freshman year at BYU, he’s made it his biggest asset as an NBA player. He’s jumped up to 39.7% shooting from distance, and hit his 100th career 3-pointer against the Jazz Friday.
In the first quarter of Friday’s game, he shot 3 of 5 from deep and then kept it going, finishing with a career high 25 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
He finished with six 3-pointers Friday night, shooting 6 of 12.
He said there’s been no magical fix for his shot outside of just consistent work.
“Shooting the ball, pretty much as simple as it is,” Dëmin said. “Just being in the gym and shooting the ball.”
Egor Dёmin for 👌
— NBA (@NBA) January 31, 2026
He now has a 3PM in 34 consecutive games, the longest streak for ANY ROOKIE in NBA history! pic.twitter.com/tSeJUwOQGL
Dëmin caught up with the media ahead of Friday night’s game, and he spoke about his experience in the NBA, playing at BYU and what it’s meant to him to return to Utah.
“It feels awesome. Super excited to be back here,“ Dëmin said. “Obviously, expecting a lot of BYU colors tonight. Just super grateful to be back here.”
He also said he had roughly 30 people show up for him for Friday’s game. Many of them were from his BYU circles.
“It’s a lot of (the) culture about BYU,” Dëmin said. “A lot of people know how united the BYU organization is in general. Not just basketball, or just football, or whatever it is, but the whole sports together.
“I’ve been lucky enough to end up in that school and gain so many friends and so many people around me who want the best for me and who I want (the) best for, so it’s just super exciting to be a part of that big BYU family.”
Dëmin also spoke highly of BYU head coach Kevin Young. When Young was hired by the Cougars, the main selling point was that he could turn BYU into a place where players could come to develop an NBA-level game.
Dëmin was the first of the Young era to make good on that claim, and he’s done so with encouraging numbers. He’s started in 34 games this year for the Nets and will be a participant in the NBA’s Rising Stars game.
Reppin’ Brooklyn in this year’s NBA Rising Stars Game: EGOR DËMIN 🌟 pic.twitter.com/pNOvCM95NJ
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 26, 2026
“He’s an NBA coach, so he taught me in this one year basically whatever I have to know to be able to play in the NBA level,” Dëmin said of Young. “Maybe not even as much of a skill set-wise, because at the end of the day, you get to the league and you just be yourself. That’s kind of the goal.
“He taught a lot of knowledge, (like) that I come here and I’m ready to play, and I know what we’re doing, and I have an idea of what it is. He gave me this kind of base of an NBA player, to be able to come here and know what’s going on around me.”
Category: General Sports
