NBA Champion, Isaiah Hartenstein

In another life, Hartenstein’s first ring comes with the team that allowed him to spread his wings.

On Sunday, the NBA Finals — which were both thrilling and bittersweet for Knicks fans — concluded with the Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Indiana Pacers in the first seven-game series since 2016. Regardless of who won in Game 7, a former Knick would become a first-time NBA champion. In the case of the Thunder, it was German big man Isaiah Hartenstein.

As most know, a former, current, or future Knick has appeared in all 79 NBA Finals, a streak which continued with Hartenstein and Indiana’s Obi Toppin. Of the 79 NBA champions, 65 have had a player who once wore the orange and blue. Of the 14 that did not have a Knick, six of them have a link to the franchise through a player going on to coach (Don Nelson, Kurt Rambis, Derek Fisher) or a midseason trade (Scott Brooks in 1995).

Hartenstein, who was born in Oregon, started his professional career overseas, like his father, Florian, before being drafted 43rd overall by the Houston Rockets in 2017. The then-19-year-old Hartenstein was assigned to the D-League and dominated to the tune of being on the All-D-League First Team and winning D-League Finals MVP in 2019. He played a total of 51 games over two seasons with the Rockets before he was waived during the pandemic.

He started the 2020-21 season in Denver, playing 30 games as an end-of-rotation backup for Nikola Jokic before a midseason trade to the Cavaliers. In 16 games with a tanking Cavs team, he showed the first glimmer of his talent, averaging eight points and six rebounds. He signed with the Clippers for 2021-22 and played well in 68 games as their backup center before inking a two-year deal with the Knicks that offseason.

Hartenstein’s signing was overshadowed by the Knicks’ highly publicized pursuit and signing of Jalen Brunson. While Brunson became one of the greatest free agent signings in recent NBA history, Hartenstein sneakily became a massive addition. Billed as an analytical darling that contrasted Mitchell Robinson’s skillset with playmaking and an ability to stretch the floor, his Knicks tenure got off to a great start. Stepping up for Robinson, who got into early foul trouble, iHart had 16-8-4 in 40 minutes of an overtime loss to open the season to Memphis.

That would be the most he scored that season. In a rare year where Mitchell Robinson stayed healthy, Hartenstein came off the bench and averaged 5.0 points and 6.5 rebounds on 53,5% from the field. He even occasionally shot the three-ball, going 8-for-37. Despite the poor percentage, it was a high mark for him, as he’d go just 2-for-24 over the next two seasons.

However, he saved his best for the postseason. Coupled with Robinson, the two Knicks’ big men tortured the Cavaliers in the first round, combining to grab 76 rebounds (39 offensive) in just five games, while completely shutting off Cleveland’s offense in the paint. They, alongside Josh Hart, made the difference in the five-game series on the glass, as the Knicks punked the favored Cavs for their first playoff series victory in ten years.

Going into the second year of his contract, Hartenstein was in his typical backup center role. Everything changed, however, when Robinson suffered a stress reaction in his ankle on December 8, 2023, against the Celtics, taking him out of action for months. While Tom Thibodeau initially started Jericho Sims, he made the permanent switch to Hartenstein on December 20th, and he blossomed.

He scored a season-high 17 in a January 5th blowout of Philadelphia. Sandwiching that game were games of 19 and 20 rebounds, respectively. In a nine-game stretch in mid-January, he averaged nearly 15 rebounds a game over 35.7 minutes. All in all, he was a huge part of the most dominant month in Knicks history, the infamous January 2024 Knicks that vaulted the team from .500 to genuine contenders in the Eastern Conference.

When Julius Randle and OG Anunoby went down at the end of the month, the Knicks had to lean into being scrappy. A dawg mentality. That mentality is what iHart embodied. In a crucial stretch that was pivotal towards the Knicks’ eventual No. 2 seed, Hartenstein averaged 12 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists spanning 13 games from mid-March to early April. When the dust settled, a man who made just 17 career starts entering the season was the starting center of one of the best teams in basketball.

While Robinson had returned unexpectedly early from his injury, Hartenstein remained the starting center who got the bulk of the minutes. Although his postseason defense was spottier than it was in the regular season, Hartenstein scored 14 points in three of the six games and capped off the miraculous Game 2 stunner against Philadelphia with a block on Tyrese Maxey:

The Pacers muted his impact as the second-round series wore on, as the Knicks battled injuries. Hartenstein suffered a shoulder injury in Game 4 that he shrugged off as the team dealt with a literal laundry list. He went scoreless in Game 7 in what would be his final game as a Knick.

It shouldn’t have been, however. The Knicks had signed him to a two-year, $16 million deal in the 2022 offseason, one year shy of being eligible for full Bird Rights, which would’ve allowed the Knicks to bring him back at any price. Due to his two years in New York, his early Bird Rights only allowed the team to offer a four-year, $72 million deal to the big man that they had unleashed. Unfortunately, a contender with bountiful cap space needing a big gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse, as he signed a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, ending his tenure in New York.

Hartenstein was a tremendous vibes guy. From his off-court bromance with Big Mitch to his Roommates Show appearance that sparked the “brightskin” joke, Hartenstein was a dawg on the court and a great guy off of it.

You can’t blame the guy for leaving. Getting a lucrative offer like that from a contender on the rise is impossible to pass up. And although it really did seem like he wanted to stay in New York, he made the right choice, as he can now call himself an NBA champion.

As we say,

Once A Knick, Always A Knick.