The Lakers are bringing Air Force guard Ethan Taylor to Summer League and he’s exactly the kind of player fans want to root for.
Summer League is often regarded as the time to see the highly-touted draft picks square off or the developing young players take their leaps early in their careers.
But at it’s core, it also represents the origin stories for so many players.
Fans pack gyms to watch their team represented by many players whose names they do not know. Whether it be in Califorinia, Nevada or Utah, Summer League is where the unknowns can make their first impressions and, perhaps, begin their path to becoming a legitimate NBA player.
For the Lakers this season, Ethan Taylor is one of those unknown guys. At least for now.
His 2025 NBA Draft came and went and he didn’t hear his name called. However, a dream deffered is not a dream denied.
Taylor will be on a Lakers’ Summer League roster highlighted by Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. He’s not the touted rookie or the promising prospect making the jump.
In fact, his route to the Lakers has been a rather unique one. But the Lakers have turned unique routes into role players before.
Taylor spent his collegiate time in Air Force, and that automatically puts him in the underdog position. He didn’t play in a Power Five conference, and the Air Force isn’t exactly known as a hotbed for NBA-level talent.
Where others see challenges, Taylor sees opportunity. This is his chance to open doors for himself and others who’ve been in his position.
“In the grand scheme of life, man, this is just a great and awesome opportunity,” Taylor told Silver Screen & Roll. “Not a lot of people from the Academy, and where I come from, have really gotten this opportunity. So I just want to go out there and have fun and just play my hardest.”
At Air Force, playing hard brought Taylor success. During his senior season, he averaged 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game, leading Air Force in all four categories. Taylor also shot 38% from 3-point range, averaging eight attempts per game.
Those shooting numbers provide signs of a 3-and-D NBA player waiting to burst out. Taylor’s focus of bringing that vision to life dates all the way back to his arrival on campus.
“First thing I had to fix when I got there was my jumper,” Taylor said. “In high school, I wasn’t really big on shooting threes that much, especially at a high volume. But I realized that I’m not the most athletic person, not the fastest person. I got to find ways to impact the game.
“And I’ve been creative since I started playing basketball — IQ, playmaking, and being able to play defense — but I knew that if I really wanted to make the next step to be a better player for my team, I had to be able to make shots consistently and be able to spread out the floor.”
Taylor came in as a freshman, connecting on 32% of his 3.5 threes per game. By his senior season, his attempts more than doubled and his efficiency rose to nearly 40%. Those types of improvements are how players find their way onto pro rosters.
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
When it comes to being the prototypical 3-and-D guy, shooting is only half the story, as defense is still a necessity. On that front, Taylor already has a player in mind as his blueprint.
“Obvioulsy, defense is something I take a lot of pride in,” Taylor said. “I want to have that Jrue Holiday, T. J. McConnell, Jose Alvarado kind of mentality on defense. Just hard-nosed, always there, just disruptive defense.”
Taylor’s 1.6 steals per game are a prime example of that ability to disrupt a game defensively.
For most Division 1 basketball players, if you have the fire and drive Taylor has, you’ll get plenty of time to maximize your potential.
However, Air Force is an entirely different situation. The word “student” in “student-athlete” truly comes first, and so do other priorities. They have 6 a.m. wake-up calls, 22-plus credit hours, military training and other non-negotiable requirements.
Taylor didn’t have as much time as others to hone his craft, so he had to make every moment count. Still, he embraced it all to make him more disciplined as a person, a leader and a basketball player.
“There’s not really a lot of time for you to dedicate just to basketball,” Taylor said. “Which definitely played a part in me developing a deeper love and work ethic for the game. I really had to find time on my own time and really just grinded it out that way because of the strenuous and hard schedule that the Air Force Academy puts on you purposefully.
“That place is a leadership academy; it’s meant to be hard. And I fully embraced it.”
In a program designed to build discipline and leadership, Taylor was the best of the best. He was named the co-captain of Air Force his final two seasons.
He ended his time at Air Force 10th all-time in scoring, second in threes and had a school record 121 career starts.
As a Summer League Laker, he won’t be the main guy as L.A. has players like Bronny and Knecht to carry that burden.
But expect Taylor to consistently give a top effort, with the energy and discipline you want every up-and-coming player to possess. It’s been a long road for Taylor, but the biggest weeks of his basketball career are fast approaching and he’s ready to rise to the challenge and show that he’s worth investing in.
“I think a successful Summer League for me would just be knowing that at the end of it, I gave it everything I had and I played as hard as I could.”
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.