Second German NBA champion
Only his son Hartenstein steals the show on Nowitzki’s traces
Von Seb Dumitru
06/23/2025, 8:39 a.m.
It took 14 long years, now Germany has another NBA champion after Dirk Nowitzki. Isaiah Hartenstein wins the first title of franchise history with Oklahoma City. It shouldn’t have been the last.
Elijah Hartenstein has the time of his life. His father Isaiah has just won the NBA championship with Oklahoma City, he was only the second German after Dirk Nowitzki, who succeeded in this feat. But while the team celebrates the first title of franchise history in front of 18,000 Thunder fans in the sold-out Paycom Arena, the one-year-old son is sleeping calmly in Hartenstein’s arms. “It may not be loud enough for him,” jokes the 27-year-old German before encouraging the crowd and promises the reporter to tell his son about the scene tomorrow.
The seventh and decisive final game between the best team of this season and the surprise team Indiana Pacers had ended a few minutes earlier. OKC won 103: 91, Hartenstein had contributed seven points, nine rebounds and four assists to victory in game seven. With a total of 11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the past season, he was one of the key players for young Thunder, who were one of four teams in history 84 games or more in the season Plus Playoffs.
Led by a dominant Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was just fourth player to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal Scoring-Champion, MVP and Finals MVP in one and the same season, Oklahoma City broke from one superlative to the next. The title was only logical. “If I won, it would also be something cool for Germany,” said the German Big Man before the start of the final series. He has now achieved this goal – with one of the best compiled and guided clubs in the league, which could have initiated a possible dynasty here.
Perfect addition for historically good team
Already in the previous year one of the five best defense teams league, General Manager Sam Presti got rid of the biggest defensive vulnerability in the squad and at the same time added two elite defenders: Alex Caruso and Hartenstein. The two made OKC impenetrable. Caruso had long been notorious as an adamant chain dog in the half field; “I-HART” made a name for itself as a long, athletic zone patrol, as one of the statistically best ring protectors and mobile deterrence in the interior. The German was Presti and Oklahoma City in the past Free Agent Sommer worth $ 87 million for three years – a perfect investment, as it quickly turned out.
Lu there, Jalen Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren were all already plus defenders. Thanks to the additions of Caruso and Hartenstein, the Thunder-Hydra became the nightmare of opposing attack series. OKC also confirmed the picture that was taken during the regular season in the playoffs: best defensive rating, the least permitted points in the zone, the worst hit rate of the opponents and most defined balls per game.
The combination of such suffocating defense work and an explosive attack, which thanks to the leadership qualities of Gilgeous-Alexander generated an offensive rating of over 120 points per 100 attacks, placed Oklahoma City in Net-Rating in the end in second place of all teams in NBA history. Only Jordan’s almost perfect Chicago Bulls 1995/96 were even better than this Thunder (plus 12.8). Hartenstein was also an important puzzle part in the attack thanks to his patented “Push Shots”, his pass qualities, his tireless rebound work on the offensive board and his hard-placed blocks.
Unorthodox path to the basketball summit
Hartenstein’s career in the NBA is unusual. Nothing was given to him, often he had to take the detour via obscure leagues and measly contract guarantees. But he bit through everywhere. The Son of a former German basketball player and an American mother, born in Oregon, moved to Germany with his family in 2008, first played at MTV Gießen and soon after the former employer of his father, the Artland Dragons in Quakenbrück. Even then, the long youngster dreamed of: “My goal is to play in the NBA. I want to go to the best league in the world.”
With the Young Dragons he won the championship title in the youth basketball Bundesliga (JBBL) and cleared MVP trophies as the most valuable player. He gave his BBL debut at the age of 16. At 17 he moved to the Lithuanian power club Zalgiris Kaunas, later won the Lithuanian championship and ran in the Euro League. At the beginning of 2017, he drew attention to himself as part of a U19 world selection at the renowned Nike Hoop Summit. Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Schröder had already pushed themselves into the notes of NBA scouts in this show game. A few months later, Hartenstein registered for the draft and was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the second round in position 43.
Hartenstein gradually merged over Houston’s farm team Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the direction of guaranteed NBA contract. While he was pushed back and forth between NBA and G-League for a while, he won the G-League title with the Vipers in 2019 and was honored as a G-League final MVP. After two years in Houston and sporadic missions – 28 as a rookie, 23 as Sophomore – Hartenstein initially switched to the Denver Nuggets, only to be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers months later. He did not stay there for long either: the following summer he signed at the Los Angeles Clippe, where he found a constant role for the first time and was able to convert his solid performance as a backup into a two -year contract with the New York Knicks. In the Madison Square Garden, Hartenstein became one of the crowds of crowds thanks to his unconditional commitment and his gruff manner – and one of the most sought -after free agents in the NBA. Oklahoma City was desperately looking for Dallas in the previous year after reinforcement in the large positions. And the rest is history, as the saying goes.
Fifth German in the NBA finals
Hartenstein came, played and won. A lot. 68 times during the regular season, another 16 times in the playoffs. Oklahoma City converted one of the best start-finish performances of all times into the first title of his history (the time in Seattle does not count before moving to Oklahoma in 2008), Hartenstein refined his most successful time as a professional with the championship-and contributed to success with 5.6 points and 6.7 rebounds on average in these finals.
Dirk Nowitzki not only scored 24.4 points and 10.3 rebounds on average in twelve final games, but was also the only German who crowned himself for the NBA champion after he was able to recapture against Miami Heat in 2011 with his Dallas Mavericks as a Finals MVP. Detlef Schrempf lost in 1996 as a starter for the Seattle Supersonics against Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls with 2: 4. Schrempf at that time came to 16.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists on average. Maxi glue (1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in five missions, lost in 2024 with Dallas) and Daniel Theis (1.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in two games, lost in 2022 with Boston) both reached the NBA finals, but were not a factor there.
He left it open for the time being whether the most talented German big Big one will finally compete internationally for Germany this summer and beyond. “I definitely want to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. As far as the European Championship is concerned this year and the 2027 World Cup, we have to see how I feel physically after the long season,” said Hartenstein in April. He always emphasizes that the NBA comes first for him.
Among other things, it was this attitude that made him unsuitable for the squad of the former national coach Gordon Herbert. The last of his 19 missions in the national team’s jersey has been seven years ago. Germany wants to outdo its bronze medal from 2022 at the European Championship starting in August – and is one of the great gold candidates in the best line -up. A freshly baked NBA champion would only give these plans sustainably wings …
