Ethemi was born in Palatica, Želino Municipality to ethnic Albanian parents but later moved to Albania where he joined the Dinamo Tirana academy as a 17-year-old, where he remained for one year before joining professional side Adriatiku Mamurras in the Albanian First Division, the second tier of football in Albania.

He featured in 22 league games for the club during the 2016–17 campaign, scoring 4 goals in the process which landed him a move to Albanian Superliga champions Kukësi.

[3] He played his first Albanian Superliga match three days later on the opening league game of the season, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Ndriçim Shtubina in the 1–0 home win over newly promoted Kamza.

[7] On 28 May 2018 Ethemi made his debut with Albania U21 in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 after being named in the starting line-up.

[8] On 12 June 2022 Ethemi made his debut with North Macedonia in a match of UEFA Nations League against Gibraltar.