Shout out to Ethan Thompson

A player most of you reading have probably never heard of – I’ve kept an eye on his journey to the NBA since he went undrafted in 2021 (I overlapped with him at OSU for a year or two and saw him play a couple times). This guy has been trying so hard to crack the league and has gotten tantalizingly close so many times. I was excited to see that he made his long-awaited NBA debut for the Pacers yesterday. He’s been grinding in the G-League for five years, and every offseason he’s been one of the final 1 or 2 cuts for whatever NBA team gave him a chance. Until 2024, when the Orlando Magic kept him on a two-way deal for the entire season… only to never play him. I thought for sure that was his last chance, but he finally did it!