Griffin Media Thunder Reporter Steve McGehee and Isaiah Hartenstein discussed the importance of giving back, the impact of winning a championship, and the motivation driving the Thunder as they look ahead to the new year.
Q: You’ve been back in town and busy. You’re probably the leader of the pack when it comes to teammates giving back to the community. Why is philanthropy so important to you?
Hartenstein: “To me, it’s always really important to give back to the community. I think the first time I came out here, Sam showed us the memorial and just kind of explained what the Oklahoma standard is. And I think it’s always important to me to kind of make sure I’m doing the right thing for the community. I mean, I always had a It’s a big passion to give back, but I think now just seeing how OKC gives back to their own community just kind of motivated me even more to do as much as possible.”
Q: When you see the reaction from families and kids, what does that mean to you?
Hartenstein: Everything, I mean, to me, it’s why I do it for. I mean, just seeing, I mean, you hear the stories of what they go through, and just being able to give them happiness or even just more resources to kind of get out of what situation they’re in is always really important to me. And so just having, I mean, I have the privilege to be in a situation that I’m in. And I think there’s also an obligation to help the community out. For me, it’s been amazing. I mean, just doing it with my family, we just try to help as much as possible.
Q: Was this the world’s shortest offseason for good reason?
Isiah Hartenstein: Oh, yeah. It was real short … it felt like we were just talking in the parade a couple of days ago, to be honest. Yeah, no, it was short, but it was good. I mean, you would rather have a short offseason than too long off. You don’t know what to do with your time. So it was short, but very productive. And yeah, we’re excited to just get back to work.
Q: What was it like to walk around in Germany and LA as a champion? Did people treat you differently?
A: It was great, my son got more attention than I did. I mean, I think the stuff you dreamed for. And I think, again, like I said before, we just didn’t do it for ourselves, being able to do it for the city. And I think just how it impacted the city, how much joy it gave people, to do it for the first time. We just want to keep working, keep building. And yeah, we’re excited for next year.
Q: What kind of motivation does this team have heading into the new season?
A: Like we say, 0 and 0. We have the same motivation we had at last year’s training camp. You can’t go into it acting like you’re defending a championship; you have to go get it again. It’s a new season, everyone starts at zero, and that’s how we’re approaching it.