Isaiah Hartenstein ( , ) (born May 5, 1998) is a German-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Listed at , Hartenstein plays the center position. Before playing in the NBA, Hartenstein played in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before playing in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

for Zalgiris Kaunas, with which he won a Lithuanian League Championship in 2017. After he left Lithuania in 2017, the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

selected him with the 43rd overall pick in the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, but he didn’t make his NBA debut with the Rockets until the next season. Hartenstein has also played for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, and the Germany men's national basketball team.

Early life

Born in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, Isaiah Hartenstein is the son of Florian Hartenstein, a basketball coach and former professional player of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

and German heritage. Florian grew up in Germany; Isaiah's mother is a white American. Isaiah's parents met in the United States while his father played basketball at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. In 2008, Hartenstein and his family moved to

, where his father was playing professionally.

Professional career

Artland Dragons (2015–2016)

Hartenstein joined the MTV Gießen youth ranks and continued his career at the youth teams of QTSV Quakenbrück/

Artland Dragons QTSV Quakenbrück, widely known as Artland Dragons is a professional basketball club based in Quakenbrück, Germany. The club's home arena is the Artland Arena, which has a capacity of 3,000 spectators. From 2003 till 2015 the club played in the B ...

, after his father had signed to play with the

in 2009. In the 2013–14 season, Hartenstein led the Artland Dragons' junior team to a German championship in the Under-16 Bundesliga JBBL, while being named Most Valuable Player. He averaged 20.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.9 blocks on the season. His father Florian, who served as head coach of the team, was named JBBL Coach of the Year. Hartenstein was selected to play in the 2014

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school all star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys and girls in the senior class. In 2015, a girl's game was introduced. Th ...

International Game: He finished the game with four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Hartenstein helped the Žalgiris Kaunas Under-18 squad to win the qualifying tournament to the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament and was selected MVP. On February 1, 2015, 16 year old Hartenstein made his debut in Germany's top-tier level

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

, seeing 1:12 minutes of action against Eisbären Bremerhaven.

Žalgiris Kaunas (2016–2017)

In August 2015, Hartenstein signed a deal with Lithuanian powerhouse Žalgiris Kaunas, but he remained with the

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

. The Dragons had withdrawn from the Bundesliga, and were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

to the 2. Bundesliga ProB, Germany's third division. Hartenstein played in 14 games for the Quakenbrück based side during the 2015–16 campaign, compiling averages of 11.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, 1.6 steals and 1.4 assists. In January 2016, Hartenstein decided to leave the Artland Dragons to join Žalgiris Kaunas. Hartenstein made his debut for Žalgiris in Lithuania's top-flight league, the LKL, on September 28, 2016, against Šiauliai and in the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

against Fenerbahce on October 26. Later in that season, he helped Žalgiris win the first ever King Mindaugas Cup.

Houston Rockets (2018–2020)

In February 2016, Hartenstein attended the "Basketball Without Borders Global Camp" during the NBA All-Star Weekend in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. On April 7, 2017, he scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds in 19 minutes of play at the

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, Inc., Nike, held once a year, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of international players. The players demons ...

. Hartenstein declared for the

on April 22, 2017. He was also named an invite for the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

NBA Draft Combine, but he ultimately declined participation for the event. On June 22, 2017, he was selected with the 43rd overall pick in the

by the

and subsequently competed for the team in the 2017 NBA Summer League. In the 2017–18 campaign, Hartenstein appeared in 38 games of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

, averaging 9.5 points and 6.6 rebounds a contest for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. On July 25, 2018, the

signed Hartenstein. After being sent down to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, he was suspended one game without pay after leaving the bench during an altercation in a 132–109 loss to the Memphis Hustle on December 17, 2019. On February 7, 2019, Hartenstein recorded his first career triple-double after posting 12 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in a 103–102 road win against Salt Lake City Stars. In the 2018–19 season, Hartenstein scored 33 points and made a career-high 8 3-pointers in the series-clinching game as they won the

championship with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He won the NBA G League Finals MVP award. On June 23, 2020, the

announced that they had waived Hartenstein.

Denver Nuggets (2020–2021)

On November 30, 2020, the

announced that they had signed Hartenstein to a multi–year contract. Playing behind the All-Star center Nikola Jokic, Hartenstein averaged 9 minutes, 3.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2021)

On March 25, 2021, Hartenstein and two future second-round picks were traded to the

in exchange for center JaVale McGee. In his first twelve games with the Cavs, Hartenstein averaged 19 minutes of playing time and 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 blocks per game.

Los Angeles Clippers (2021–2022)

On September 27, 2021, Hartenstein signed with the

New York Knicks (2022–2024)

On July 12, 2022, Hartenstein signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the

Oklahoma City Thunder (2024–present)

On July 6, 2024, Hartenstein signed a three-year, $87 million contract with the

. On November 20, 2024, he made his Thunder debut, putting up 13 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks, and three assists in a 109–99 win over the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

National team career

Hartenstein represented

at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship and the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. He helped carry Germany to a fourth-place finish at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, averaging team-highs of 14.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 1.7 steals a contest, which earned him a spot in the tournament's "All-Star Five". In August 2017, he made his debut with the German men's national team and took part in

EuroBasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

, averaging 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 16 , , 2 , , 17.9 , , .582 , , .333 , , .686 , , 6.0 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , 1.2 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 68 , , 0 , , 17.9 , , .626 , , .467 , , .689 , , 4.9 , , 2.4 , , .7 , , 1.1 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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, 75 , , 49 , , 25.3 , , .644 , , .333 , , .707 , , 8.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, 57 , , 53 , , 27.9 , , .581 , , .000 , , .675 , , 10.7 , , 3.8 , , 0.8 , , 1.1 , , 11.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 379 , , 114 , , 19.5 , , .592 , , .255 , , .686 , , 6.4 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .9 , , 6.8

Playoffs

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2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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, 11 , , 0 , , 20.0 , , .478 , , , , .750 , , 4.6 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , 1.4 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 13 , , 13 , , 29.8 , , .592 , , .500 , , .864 , , 7.8 , , 3.5 , , .3 , , .9 , , 8.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 26 , , 13 , , 23.4 , , .574 , , .500 , , .816 , , 5.9 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , 5.7

Europe

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

ProB The ProB is the German basketball league system, third-tier level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 24 teams, separated into a Northern and a Southern Division. Officially, the ProB is part of ...

, 14 , , 24.0 , , .479 , , .425 , , .543 , , 8.9 , , 1.4 , , 1.6 , , 2.1 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , LKL , 29 , , 12.2 , , .490 , , .286 , , .705 , , 3.5 , , .7 , , .9 , , .6 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="3", Career , 43 , , 18.1 , , .485 , , .356 , , .624 , , 6.2 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , 8.2

References

External links

NBA G League bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartenstein, Isaiah 1998 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century German sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American men's basketball players American people of German descent Artland Dragons players Basketball players from Eugene, Oregon BC Žalgiris players Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets players German expatriate basketball people in Lithuania German men's basketball players German people of African-American descent German sportspeople of American descent Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Clippers players NBA players from Germany New York Knicks players Oklahoma City Thunder players Power forwards Rio Grande Valley Vipers players