Isaiah Hartenstein on differences between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, other NBA superstars
After being mostly a starter, Hartenstein enjoyed his first NBA championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Safe to say it was a successful first year after he left the New York Knicks in the 2024 offseason. The seven-footer was able to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have one of the greatest individual seasons ever highlighted by the MVP, Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP trophies.
Playing with other all-time greats like James Harden and Jalen Brunson, Hartenstein detailed the difference on his "Podcast P with Paul George" episode between Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of his past superstar teammates. The former career journeyman had the chance to learn from some of the best before he found his footing in the NBA.
"He has no ego. There's no, 'I'm just gonna score and make it about myself.' It's never that," Hartenstein said. "There were even times at the beginning of the season when he threw me a pass when he got trapped. I threw it to the next man to get a shot. I was like, 'Sorry, I'll finish it next time and give you an assist.' He was like, 'I don't care. I just want to win, so do whatever you need.' Even when he's putting up those huge numbers, he's not searching for them. He's in the flow. He's trying to make the team as best as possible."
There's always a degree of stat-padding involved with players the caliber of Gilgeous-Alexander, if that's what you want to call it. When you're one of the best, it's easy to pretty up your box score numbers for several reasons. But according to Hartenstein, Gilgeous-Alexander more often plays within rhythm.
The receipts back it up, too. Before Gilgeous-Alexander broke it this past season, his previous career-high was just 45 points. Pretty pedestrian for modern times. It became a running gag on social media. The consistent 30-plus point scorer should've had it higher considering his pedigree.
Hartenstein also said that Gilgeous-Alexander was a rare two-way superstar player. He might be a decent defender on the Thunder, but his steal numbers back up that he could play on both sides of the floor and doesn't bleed points by being attacked.
"Him playing on both sides of the court, I think that's underrated. He plays defense. You can't go pick on him. He tries on defense," Hartenstein said. "It's not like, 'I had this iso for five seconds. I'm tired. I'm just going to chill on defense.' He doesn't do that. When you see that, it gives us the push and confidence he's going to do it both sides of the court."
Always interesting to hear from Hartenstein. What he thinks of Gilgeous-Alexander has added weight to it, considering all of his stops before he joined the Thunder. Being arguably the best teammate he's ever had, what he does beyond the monster scoring numbers is the major difference for him.
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