Isaiah Hartenstein Crowns OKC Thunder Stars as 'Playing the Right Way'

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Isaiah Hartenstein come in and make a massive impact on the court and clearly off of it. His basketball mind is an extension of the coach on the floor with superb organizational skills. Hartenstein continues to lob praise at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates.

Nov 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) celebrates after his team’s win over the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images / John Hefti-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder are already seeing their massive three-year $87 Million Dollar investment in Isaiah Hartenstein pay off. The Thunder are 4-0 in the Hartenstein era thus far and have only needed three games to turn a four-game road trip into a statement trip.

The injection of Hartenstein has been a massive boost to the Bricktown ballers. Not only were they in desperate need of a center after a run of injuries, but the seven-footer has elevated Oklahoma City on both ends.

With his elite rim protection and playmaking chops the Thunder have thrived in his minutes - seeing Hartenstein collect four double-doubles to go along with as many wins. Already the big man has lobbed praise at superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

After the Thunder earned a massive win over the Lakers on Friday, the glowing reviews continued from the team's newly acquired big men. When peppered with questions about how he has gelled so quickly, Hartenstein deflected to his star teammates.

“Stars play the right way.” Hartenstein said “Some guys, I’ll be honest, they play selfishly. There’s some guys in the league that just kind of play more for themselves and don’t play for the team. But (SGA and Williams) don’t. They’re very team-focused, and I think that’s what makes us great. … A lot of NBA stars kind of take a lot of plays off defensively. But they don’t.”

Despite being just 26-years-old, He has been around the NBA world. Playing with James Harden, Chris Paul, Nikola Jokic, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Jalen Brunson all before his stop in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder has seen the big man average 14 points, 14 rebounds, nearly four assists and nearly two blocks in 32 minutes of work.

Last night Isaiah Hartenstein said part of why he’s fit in so easily is OKC’s “stars play the right way.” I wondered what that actually meant to him:

“Some guys, I’ll be honest, they play selfishly. There’s some guys in the league that just kind of play more for themselves and…

— Joel Lorenzi (@jxlorenzi) November 30, 2024

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