Isaiah Hartenstein almost had the chance to face off with his former Knicks teammates in the NBA Finals.
The Thunder took the Spurs down to the wire in their quest for back-to-back titles, but they were ultimately defeated in seven games in the Western Conference Finals.
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So now, instead, Hartenstein will be stuck watching the action from home.
While he’d obviously rather be going head-to-head against his good friends on the biggest stage, he’s going to be rooting for them to get the job done.
“I’m happy for them,” he said in his end of season interview. “I got there when they were kind of getting back on track and redoing everything a little bit, so what Leon Rose and all of those guys did, to now be in the Finals is cool to see.
“Yeah I’d rather be playing against them, but I’m rooting for them right now — there’s a lot of guys that I know and I’m still pretty close with over there, so I’m happy for them.”
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Hartenstein took his game to another level during his two seasons with the Knicks, and he parlayed that into a big money three-year deal upon hitting free agency.
The big man was able to carry that success into his first two years with the Thunder, securing his first ring and averaging 10.3 points and 10.1 boards as part of their ferocious front-court.
He faces a bit of an uncertain future in OKC, though, with the final year of his pact being a $28.5M team option.
If declined, Hartenstein could find himself on the open market once again this offseason.
