Dec. 5, 2025, 4:40 a.m. ET
- After years in the G League, Ethan Thompson made his NBA debut with the Indiana Pacers.
- He scored his first NBA points on a floater during his debut game against the Nuggets.
- Thompson previously had a memorable NCAA Tournament run to the Elite Eight in Indianapolis with Oregon State in 2021.
INDIANAPOLIS — Ethan Thompson went to the scorer’s table with 6:57 to go in the fourth quarter on Monday in a game that had gotten away from the Pacers to play out a stretch that wouldn’t stand out in the memory of anyone else in attendance.
For Thompson, it was the culmination of a 4 1/2 year journey.
One of the biggest highlights of Thompson’s career came in Indianapolis in 2021 when he helped then No. 12 seed Oregon State to a surprise run to the Elite Eight of an NCAA Tournament held entirely in Indiana due to the COVID pandemic. He wasn’t untaken in the NBA Draft that followed and over the next four years played 194 games in the G League with four teams and 26 NBA Summer League games with four teams but had never played in an NBA game that counted.
On Monday that drought ended as the 26-year-old, 6-4 shooting guard appeared in his first NBA game just a day after signing a two-way contract with the Pacers. He’d previously signed a two-way contract with the Magic in February, but got all of his work with the Osceola Magic instead of the Orlando club. Indiana made sure he didn’t wait that long and his teammates made sure to get him the ball so he could also record NBA points on a bank-shot floater with 50 seconds to go.
“The heart was racing fast because it’s something you look forward to your whole life,” Thompson said. “Being able to go out there, and then once the ball went in, I was able to calm myself down and then it just became basketball. Definitely leading up to the moment, a lot of fun thoughts racing.”
The racing thoughts came after years of maintaining patience, not allowing himself to become embittered or discouraged when his production at the G League level didn’t turn into a call-up to the NBA. He has averaged double-figures in scoring in each of his four G League seasons, playing 2021-22 and 2022-23 with the Windy City Bulls, 2023-24 with the Mexico City Capitanes, 2024-25 with the Osceola Magic and eight games to start the 2025-26 season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the South Dakota-based G League affiliate of the Miami Heat.
“It’s been some pretty high highs and some low lows as well,” Thompson said. “But you’re just keeping the faith and trusting that God has a plan for you. I think that’s the thing that has carried me throughout this whole journey. Just controlling what you can control. You can’t control the team calling you up every time, but you can control how you play on the court and that’s something I try to focus on often.”
Thompson helped the process along this season with an exceptional start. In his eight games with the Skyforce he averaged 26.9 points per game on 45% shooting and also grabbed 5.8 rebounds and dished out 6.5 assists per game. That’s a small sample size, but he’s never averaged more than 22.9 points, 4.8 rebounds or 4.4 assists in full season.
“It’s the consistent work,” Thompson said. “Just being able to stay in the gym and even if you don’t see that growth initially — you’re not going to see it overnight — but definitely being prepared for the opportunity. Looking at myself as a player now from what I’ve done in the G versus my first year and even as a collegiate athlete, you can see the growth has been there.”
The Pacers noticed and decided they needed to use one of their two-way contracts on wing depth rather than an additional point guard, which is why they waived RayJ Dennis to take on Thompson. He’ll probably still get more work with the Noblesville Boom than the Pacers, but he will still clearly have opportunity at the NBA level. He also appeared in Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets.
“He’s been playing great this year,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “… He’s a developing young player who can score and he has some versatility. There’s a lot of things to like about him.”
That it was the Pacers who took Thompson seemed fitting on a number of levels. For one, the Pacers were one of the teams with whom he played a Summer League session back in 2023 when he averaged 8.3 points and 2.3 assists per game in three appearances. But he also fondly remembers the 2021 tournament in Indy even though he and the rest of the participants spent their free time cordoned off in hotel rooms. The Beavers stunned No. 5 seed Tennessee, No. 4 seed Oklahoma State, and No. 8 seed Loyola (Ill.) — which had just defeated No. 1 seed Illinois — before losing to No. 2 seed Houston in the regional semifinals. It was the first time since the 1981-82 season that Oregon State reached an NCAA Regional Final.
Thompson scored 13 points in the win over Tennessee, 26 against Oklahoma State, 22 over Loyola and 11 in the loss to Houston.
“It definitely has a special place for me,” Thompson said. “Just having that NCAA Tournament run here in a unique situation with the bubble, so all the games were here. And this is a basketball state. Any time you touch down in Indiana, you know fans are going to love basketball, no matter what level. To be part. of that Elite Eight run and to be here representing the state as well, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.