Is Tyson Etienne Related to Travis Etienne? Fact-Check Confirms No Family Connection
March 11, 2026 — The persistent online question “is tyson etienne related to travis etienne” has a clear answer: no, Tyson Etienne, the former Wichita State basketball guard now in the G League and on an NBA two-way contract, and Travis Etienne Jr., the NFL running back who recently signed with the New Orleans Saints after stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars, share no family ties despite their common surname.
A December 2025 analysis explicitly states:
No, Tyson Etienne and Travis Etienne are not related.
The report attributes the misconception to their athletic prominence in different sports and the shared last name Étienne, listed separately on Wikipedia’s surname page for each athlete.
Tyson Etienne’s Family Background
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Tyson Etienne‘s parents are father Max Etienne, a former college basketball player at Maryland, and mother Anita Gibson, an Emmy-nominated makeup artist. He is the nephew of NBA player Marcus Camby and actor Omari Hardwick, and cousin to NBA player DeAndre Jordan, per his Wikipedia page and ESPN bio. No siblings or connections to the Etienne football family are mentioned.
The query “is tyson etienne related to travis etienne” often confuses him with Travis’s brother Trevor Etienne, but sources show distinct lineages.
Travis Etienne Jr.’s Family Background
Travis Etienne Jr. hails from Jennings, Louisiana. His father, Travis Etienne Sr., works in the oil industry, and his mother, Donnetta Etienne, is a nurse. He has a younger brother, Trevor Etienne, an NFL running back with the Carolina Panthers, and sisters Danielle and Shanea, both athletes from Jennings High School. Family profiles, including a 2023 FanBuzz article and 2024 People.com piece, detail this without any reference to Tyson.
Origins of the “Is Tyson Etienne Related to Travis Etienne” Confusion
Social media fuels the rumor. A 2021 X post clarified, “Tyson Etienne… not Travis Etienne’s brother, I just looked it up.” Reddit threads and TikTok searches for “is tyson etienne related to travis etienne” or variations like ties to Trevor persist, but no credible outlets like ESPN or NFL.com suggest a link.
Direct comparisons of birthplaces, parents, and relatives confirm separate backgrounds. Addressing “is tyson etienne related to travis etienne” repeatedly, sources emphasize the surname coincidence alone.
