Wichita State pro Tyson Etienne scores 21 points, hits game-winner in NBA Summer League

Wichita State fans know what Tyson Etienne is capable of with the basketball in his hands.

Now the Atlanta Hawks do too.

The former Shocker star poured in a team-high 21 points, including the game-winning layup in the final seconds of the Hawks’ 87-86 win over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

It was the first scoring eruption of Etienne’s brief professional basketball career, shades of his Co-Player of the Year season in the American Athletic Conference, which could go on a long way for an undrafted rookie trying to earn a spot in the NBA.

“I think I just found myself,” Etienne told Atlanta’s Annie Finberg following the game. “The first couple of games in Summer League, I was trying to learn everything and apply everything and sometimes you get in your head too much and start thinking things instead of letting yourself flow. I think when I came out here today I was much more in a flow and I think I allowed my skills to come out and my teammates did a great job getting me the ball.”

While making the Hawks’ NBA roster for this upcoming season is still an uphill battle for Etienne, he did sign an Exhibit 10 contract with Atlanta following the 2022 NBA Draft, which essentially guarantees at least an invitation to the team’s training camp to contest for a roster spot later this fall and a fall-back option of a spot on the organization’s G League team.

Performances like the one Thursday by Etienne only boost his potential NBA stock.

Not only did the 6-foot-2 sharpshooter showcase his shooting ability, knocking down five three-pointers, Etienne also showed his ability to attack the rim and finish through contact on the game’s decisive basket. For a small guard by NBA standards, that’s critical.

After Etienne’s long-range accuracy helped the Hawks claw back from a 15-point, second-half deficit, Atlanta put the ball in Etienne’s hands down one with less than 20 seconds to go in the game.

“It was drawn up for me to get downhill,” Etienne said. “It wasn’t necessarily to get a layup, but it was for me to make a read. If they didn’t stop me, get to the rim and try to make a play or get fouled.”

Atlanta ran the exact same ghost-screen action that Wichita State found success with late last season to force the switch and spring Etienne on a drive down the heart of the defense. After beating the on-ball defender to the paint, Etienne exploded off his left-foot plant to slither around the big and extended the ball with his right hand to kiss it off the backboard out of the defender’s reach while absorbing contact.

Etienne had actually executed the same move and execution in a game at Tulsa from this past season with the Shockers.

Etienne even made sure his game-winner would stand on his own, coming up with the game-sealing steal at the other end in the closing seconds.

On the play Etienne denied a dribble hand-off by chasing over the screen, then kept working when his mark cut toward the middle of the lane in a loop. Etienne read the play, kept his head up and batted the pass away to prevent the Spurs from even attempting a potential game-winning shot.

The final sequence drew praise from former Shocker teammates, the Atlanta Hawks’ official Twitter and the Wichita State men’s basketball Twitter account.

In a post-game interview with ESPN, Etienne credited his time at Wichita State for the game-winning defensive play. Members of the coaching staff confirmed to The Eagle that the situation Etienne made the steal is indeed a practice drill WSU runs daily during the season.

“That’s just fundamentals,” Etienne said. “Shout out to Wichita State. We ran that drill every day in practice.”

Etienne scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half to help Atlanta erase a 15-point deficit late in the third quarter. He scored eight points, including back-to-back triples, on three straight makes in less than 90 seconds to spark the Hawks, then scored eight straight points midway through the fourth quarter to help Atlanta rally from a 10-point deficit.

After averaging just 13 minutes and 5.7 points in Atlanta’s first three Summer League games, Etienne played 22 minutes and finished 8 of 15 shooting in his breakout performance that was aided by the absence of James Akinjo, another undrafted guard vying for playing time who missed the game due to illness.

Etienne will attempt to leave a final impression on the Hawks’ NBA brass in the final Summer League game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 2 p.m. Saturday broadcast on NBA TV.