Isaiah Hartenstein explains why coming off the bench wasn't a big deal for him: "If you want to win, you have to sacrifice"
NBA players often preach sacrifice, but Isaiah Hartenstein backed it up with his actions. The Oklahoma City Thundercenter showed his commitment to the team when he accepted a bench role without hesitation in the 2025 Finals.
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"I think if you want to win, you have to sacrifice," Hartenstein told Dan Katz of the "Pardon My Take" podcast, sharing his thought process during the role change. "So, knowing that, I was able to put my ego aside, and I trust Mark (Daigneault) fully. I mean, Mark's been great for us all season. I trust the decisions he was making, so it's more, I just wanna win so bad, and if it's me playing one minute, me playing 40 minutes, to me doesn't matter."
"If you look at our whole team, each series, someone else sacrificed," added IHart.
What makes the Thunder special
Hartenstein started in 53 out of the 57 games he played in the regular season and 20 out of 23 contests in the playoffs. The only series where he was asked to step aside from his starting role was on the grandest stage: the NBA Finals.
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As the 27-year-old mentioned, the Thunder pieces move up and down the rotation, and he was sometimes the casualty. His length and size were much needed against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the second round, but his minutes continued to slide down in the next two series.
Hartenstein averaged only 19 minutes in the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals (from 27 in the Nuggets series) as Mark Daigneault opted for quicker, more switch-ready lineups against Minnesota and Indiana. Nonetheless, the seven-footer saw that as a blessing rather than a curse.
"I think that's what made us special," Hartenstein stated, referring to OKC's luxury of falling back into different lineups. "It was no egos involved. No one was pouting in the locker room because he played 10 less minutes than the series before. It was, 'How can I help my team win?' I think that's what also makes us connected."
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Hartenstein practiced what he preached
Daigneault received much criticism for "trying to fix what's not broken" heading into Game 1 vs. the Pacers. He inserted Cason Wallace into the starting lineup and relegated Hartenstein to the bench for matchup purposes. The noise was even louder when Indiana stole the game under OKC's noses, but the 2024 Coach of the Year stayed on course.
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For Hartenstein, he already had Daigneault's back after the stinging loss.
"We have one of the best coaches in the league. And so, we trust whatever choices he makes. With a winning team, if you wanna win a championship, there's gotta be sacrifices," Hartenstein said. "That's what I'm ready to do. If it's sacrificing minutes or sacrificing what I want to do on offense or defense. Whatever the team needs. It's not like you lose confidence when you play less minutes. I know I'm still one of the best bigs in the league."
In another one of Daigneault's adjustments, Hartenstein started again in Game 7. He did what he needed to do, leading the team in rebounding (nine boards) while showcasing his playmaking skills (four assists). In fact, Hartenstein was one of only three Thunder players who recorded a dime in the deciding match. The other two were Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (12) and Jalen Williams (4).
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For all the tactical changes OKC made, Hartenstein's attitude remained the welcome constant. He was ready to play one minute or forty, and in the game that decided everything, he showed why that mindset matters. That type of sacrifice is the backbone of any title run.
Related: Adam Silver plans to use Artificial Intelligence after the NBA's injury surge: "Ingest all video of every game a player's played in to see if we can detect some pattern"
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.
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