The Brooklyn Nets recently shut down rookie guard Egor Demin for the rest of the 2025-26 NBA season due to increased plantar fasciitis in his left foot that hasn’t improved. While Brooklyn had previously given Demin rest to allow his ailment to calm down, they eventually made the choice to shut him down for good and it sounds like that was the right decision.
“He might just have a high pain tolerance. But it seems like an opportune moment for the Brooklyn Nets to shut him down now, given the fact that he’s having symptoms, and he’s had recurrence,” Dr. Andrew Brief of the Ridgewood Orthopedic Group said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Demin was available for the majority of the season, but he also dealt with the same issue in his left foot prior to the beginning of this season.
“The take-home point is for a jumping athlete like a basketball player, it can be a significantly painful and sometimes debilitating condition,” Brief continued, per Lewis. “I would say that the organization has reason to be optimistic that because he’s young and healthy, plantar fasciitis is usually a diagnosis that will ultimately resolve itself, and won’t be chronic.”
Demin, 20, ends his rookie season after averaging 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 38.5% from three-point land. It seems like the plantar fasciitis could have been bothering Demin prior to when the team shut him down as he averaged 7.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 33.3% from the floor and 30.6% from deep in his last seven games.
“To be honest with you, not exactly. I know he was dealing with some discomfort, and it got worse and worse. And then we decided to take a look and make sure we can settle it a little bit,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said of Demin earlier this week. Demin, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, had his rookie season shut down earlier than he expected, but it seems like Brooklyn is doing the right thing for him in the long run.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Report: Nets shut down rookie Egor Demin at an optimal time
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
