It has been an eventful six months for LA Clippers center Isaiah Hartenstein.
The 23-year-old American-born German native signed with the Clippers on Sept. 13 on a training-camp deal after declining a $1.8 million player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers ahead of free agency in July. Hartenstein was entered into a three-way battle for one roster spot along with former Portland Trail Blazers center Harry Giles III and undrafted rookie Moses Wright, as veteran center Serge Ibaka recovered from June back surgery.
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Hartenstein earned the Clippers’ final roster spot in the preseason, then established himself as Ivica Zubac’s backup center prior to Ibaka’s return in November. Even when Ibaka returned, Hartenstein’s ability to finish, facilitate in the half court and protect the rim kept him in the rotation. The chemistry Hartenstein established with fellow reserves Luke Kennard and Terance Mann was evident. At one point in December, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue discussed Hartenstein in the second unit: “Isaiah pretty much becomes our point guard, and so we kind of run our offense through him,” Lue said. “He makes great passes, and I think we need him with that second unit. He’s been great.”
Even though Hartenstein was in the middle of what would be a four-week absence due to a sprained left ankle suffered in Oklahoma City, the Clippers would guarantee his contract for the rest of the 2021-22 season on Jan. 7. And now with Ibaka traded to the Milwaukee Bucks at February’s deadline, Hartenstein is the only backup center for the Clippers.
It’s been a long journey for Hartenstein, the 43rd pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets after playing for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League. Hartenstein would spend his rookie season in the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston affiliate, before joining the Rockets in 2018-19. After the Rockets waived Hartenstein prior to the 2020 restart, he signed with the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 offseason. The Nuggets would trade Hartenstein to Cleveland at the 2021 trade deadline.
Now, Hartenstein is enjoying a season where he is averaging career bests across the board for the Clippers: 7.6 points (62.4 percent field goals), 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocks, while also making 4 of 10 from the 3-point line. The Clippers have outscored foes by 144 points and 8.5 points per 100 possessions in Hartenstein’s minutes this season, the best marks on the team (minimum 10 games). And after entering the 2021-22 season with 48 career dunks, Hartenstein has 49 dunks already this season for a Clippers team that is over .500 (32-31) for the first time since Jan. 3.
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Hartenstein spoke with The Athletic going into the miniseries at Houston about a variety of topics, including his time with the Rockets, what he focuses on beyond basketball and being half-Black.
(Editor’s note: The interview have been lightly edited for clarity.)
I don’t know whether to congratulate you or what as far as the whole CAA thing. How did that come? What does that mean?
Now I’m with Aaron Mintz, I’m with CAA now; I switched over. I know a lot of guys there, with Luke, PG (Paul George), Reggie (Jackson). So, they kind of made that decision a little easier, telling me how they’ve been with them and everything’s been good so far.
It’s really cool, just because you go back to where you were when the offseason started, you being in free-agent limbo for so long. It’s been a journey for you. Does it even feel like it’s been six months? Six months ago, you weren’t even signed with a team. Aug. 1 to Aug. 31, no team. When you look back at that a little bit, how do you feel like that has kind of affected you?
I think it’s a lot of ups and downs. But I think in general, I always believed in myself. The situation I’m in now, just, I’m grateful. I mean, I haven’t talked about it. The front office has been great. T. Lue’s been, he’s probably the best coach I’ve been a part of so far. Let’s me play my game. He gives me a real opportunity to show what I can do. It’s been a blessing, I think. From looking back in the summer, going from a training camp here to now being really a part of the rotation, it’s been a blessing. I think, just keep moving forward. I think I can do a lot of stuff. I mean now, just finding my spots, and I think I’m getting better at shooting 3s. When I came into the league, I was actually shooting 3s before. So, it’s now just trying to get back into shooting them more.
Watching you shoot is an adventure. I know you put all the work into it. When are you going to shoot 3s? You came into this league for a 3-point shooting organization. What’s that been like, flickering between green light, yellow light, red light?
Yeah, I mean when I first came into the league, they wanted me to roll. So, it was like, probably, the first three years of my career, I was more doing my roll. So now it’s just getting more into it. So, it’s not like I’m like starting to shoot 3s now. Like, before my NBA career, that’s one of the things I mostly did. So, it’s more about being back in the rhythm and finding my spots, game-like shots, to make them. I know I can shoot it, so more now, it’s finding my shots so I can shoot them in the game.
When you think back at your Houston time — because we’re about to go to Houston on a miniseries, going to be a good amount of time there — what goes through your mind? The organization, Rio Grande Valley, all that?
It helped me a lot to transition from European basketball to the NBA game. I’m grateful for everything they’ve done for me. It’s kind of unfortunate that right when I was trying to get more minutes over there, they went small ball. That kind of impacted everything. But in general, they did a lot. Helped my development. (Rockets assistant coach) John Lucas, (former Vipers head coach and current Trail Blazers assistant coach) Matt Brase helped me a lot, just getting into the NBA game. (Former Vipers head coach) Joseph Blair, now with Washington, helped me a lot, too, when we were in the G League. I’m happy to go back, there’s no really hard feelings over there.
You ever talk to Robert Covington about that? Being that your last days in Houston coincided with the trade that brought him there and he had to play center there?
We talk about it all the time. It’s funny, because he keeps following me everywhere I go now. No, it’s fine, I love the dude. I think especially, him being with me now in the second unit, our defense is … I thought our defense, especially the second unit was always top-notch. And now, having him there, where I know I can switch on multiple guys, he can switch on multiple guys … this makes us more versatile on defense. But we joke about it a lot. You know how it goes.
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What are the jokes?
It was funny because I think I came off … I was coming off like 17, 15 and five. And then (current Atlanta Hawks center) Clint (Capela) got traded. So, I was like, “Oh yeah, it’s my time.” I would start playing a lot more. Then next game, I didn’t play any minutes, so …
For a while, you were a footnote. “The Rockets don’t play nobody above 6-foot-7, but they do have Isaiah Hartenstein if they ever want a big out there!”
I mean, they did me a favor. I asked to get out of that situation, they let me go. I have no hard feelings for that organization. They had to do what they thought was best for them, and they did me a favor letting me then go find somewhere else. So, no hard feelings.
A lot of people don’t know that you are half-Black. You’re on a new team. What does that mean for you to be half-Black, especially now, coming to the end of Black History Month?
Being Black, I take a lot of pride in. You can’t really see it in my skin color. But in general, I take a lot of pride in it. It’s always funny when people first find out. I think even (Phoenix Suns center) JaVale (McGee) last game, he was like, “Yo, your dad’s Black?” I was like, “Yeah.” It’s funny things when people first recognize it. But it’s been a blessing.
When did your teammates here find out?
It’s actually weird. Like, they always find out in the first couple of days.
Not even from you telling them?
Not even from me. I think PG came up to me, because we’re on an away game. He’s like, “So you’re dad’s Black?” I was like, “Yeah.” So, it’s actually weird. I think somebody wrote like an ESPN article about it or something, like, before I got drafted. That might be my reason.
When you get a month like this one, where everyone’s a little bit more — for some people, Black History Month is every day, every month. Talking to Ty Lue last year, that was his response: “Look man, I’m Black every day!” It doesn’t just have to be a February conversation. But it is February, and that’s when a lot more people are more open to the discussion. How’s that been for you? It’s not just that you’re half-Black. You grew up in Germany, you have ties to the Pacific Northwest, now you’ve been in the league for a few years. You’ve seen what it’s like in this country and around the world. You’re a global citizen. With the identity of that, how has that developed as a pro for you?
I will say, it’s every day. I have this weird kind of middle ground where people will have conversations and they don’t think I’m Black. I think that, sometimes, is where you can really see how people think. I think it’s gotten a lot better. If you really want to do something, especially in America, you can do it. I’ve been to other countries where you don’t have opportunities at all. So, I think that’s what’s gotten better. There’s still racial things out there. I think just bringing more awareness to it is the best thing for it.
When you think about the kind of career that you want to have as a pro, obviously the basketball part sometimes is the simplest thing. What else completes you? What are the things that kind of fulfill you outside of basketball? Perhaps the things that you want to think about beyond?
I think the biggest thing for me is mental health, bringing more awareness to that. That’s a lot of things where, if you even go back to a quality mindset sometimes, we put people in a box. I think if we get more mental health around people like that, where they can really know they can do so much more, I think that’s a big thing. Especially with the pandemic, looking into how much anxiety and depression was there. I think keeping people more aware of mental health, that’s normal. I think a lot of people, things have gotten better, but before it was like people were nervous to talk about it. Like, they thought like they would make fun of you or some stuff. I think mental health is a big thing, and I think they should have it in school more. Especially kids growing up, knowing what’s what. I think a lot of kids, especially in the teenage years, don’t know what they’re going through. I think just having certain tools or at least knowing what depression and anxiety is would help the most.
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Was there any moment in your career where you kind of adopted how you feel about that now?
I was in Denver, so I think that’s where I kind of got the most of knowing what mental health was. It was kind of a really up-and-down season. I was frustrated. I didn’t know what was going on. My minutes were up and down. I think that’s when I started to … I wasn’t playing like I normally did, because I was overthinking a lot of stuff. And so, I think that’s when I kind of got into mental health and really got into, like, what’s what and how I can help myself and started meditating a lot. I think that’s helped me the most so far.
Serge isn’t here now, but when he started playing, you both were pretty complementary of each other, how you would push each other. It’s clear that when you were brought here, it was to fill a spot, to be an emergency guy. And then you showed that you can play every day. The team all of a sudden had one too many centers. With Serge traded, how did the impact in having him and being in that partnership with him help you throughout this season?
It helped a lot. I’m a guy that asks a lot of questions. I ask a lot of questions, especially defensively. His career so far, one of the best defensive bigs in the NBA. He’s taught me a lot. I really appreciate everything he’s done. He pushed me, and before I even came here, I knew the situation. But I also believed that I could outplay a lot of guys. So just coming in, I was confident.
But again, Serge did a lot for me, just teaching me. It wasn’t like, we didn’t have like … you know how some people when they’re playing for a spot, it’s more like a beef between each other? We were, like, really trying to help each other out. And I’m grateful for what he did for me while he was here.
(Top photo: Petre Thomas / USA Today)
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