Following the Celtics’ 113–99 win over the Nets on Tuesday in Brooklyn, Boston rookie Hugo Gonzalez and Brooklyn rookie Egor Dёmin met at halfcourt for a brief catch-up, sharing a quick hug before heading to their respective locker rooms.
“It was really cool. I hadn’t seen him for a while,” Dёmin told WEEI.com. “It was the first time I had seen him since maybe the draft combine? I don’t even know when I last saw him. But it was pretty cool.”
This wasn’t just two rookies sharing a moment. The two go way back — more than 3,500 miles — to Madrid, Spain, where they were teammates on the Real Madrid junior team and won back-to-back ANGT Finals in 2023 and 2024.
Now seeing each other on an NBA court, it all felt a little “surreal.”
“It’s surreal just from the fact of being an NBA, for sure,” said Dёmin. “But it makes it even better, and being able to get in the court again and play against him.”
The two 19-year-olds have remained close since their time in Spain. As each navigates the challenges of adjusting to the NBA, they’ve leaned on one another, checking in regularly and comparing experiences.
“We talk a lot. He’s a great friend. I like to see how he’s doing,” Gonzalez said. “We’re in the rookie transition or whatever. We’re close.”
“Just, you know, getting back to each other and just asking how we’re doing. Just getting in touch,” Dёmin said. “Looking at each other’s experience and learning from each other.”
Their rookie seasons have taken different shapes. Dёmin, the eighth overall pick who committed to BYU after the 2024 ANGT Finals, entered Brooklyn’s starting lineup on November 7 and has started all seven games since. He’s averaging 7.7 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.2 rebounds.
Gonzalez’s minutes have been less consistent. He’s appeared in 12 of Boston’s 18 games and has logged 10-plus minutes in just six. Still, the pair continues to draw from each other much as they did in Madrid.
“I think it’s great,” Dёmin said of the conversations between the two. “We’ve been together for three years on the same team, and we’ve been through a lot of games and tournaments and championships, whatever it is. We’ve been learning a lot from each other.”
“We’ve been close,” Gonzalez said. “Playing together for a long time, he’s a good friend.”
The two rookies matched up on the floor briefly in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 113–105 loss for Boston. Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla turned to Gonzalez, looking for a spark in the fourth quarter, and the rookie provided, specifically with his defense, finishing a +12 in 5:08.
“Just continue to work. Execute, be ready to play,” Mazzulla said of Gonzalez’s opportunity pregame. “We’ve got guys that can impact winning any given night. Just continue to have an understanding of that and be prepared.”
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez, a native of Badalona, Spain, and the first Spanish-born head coach in NBA history, who last coached in Spain in 2017, praised Gonzalez and his potential impact in the league.
“Very good player,” Fernandez said. “He didn’t have the minutes that, as a fan, we expected with his team with Real Madrid. But we all knew that with the Spanish National team, all the unders, he was a difference-maker. Obviously, there is a reason he is in the NBA. He belongs to this level. Size, skillset.”
There have been some great players who have come to the NBA from Real Madrid — Luka Doncic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Drazen Petrovic, and Rudy Fernandez, to name a few. Gonzalez and Dёmin hope to be next.
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