Isaiah Hartenstein is often a regular for the New York Knicks and eagerly picks up rebounds under the baskets. Probably not in the national team in the future either
Isaiah Hartenstein believes it is very unlikely that he will play in the Olympics, despite his current strong performances in the NBA. The 25-year-old from the New York Knicks emphasized in an interview with Bild am Sonntag that the league is number one for him. In Germany, he could rather imagine owning a club and organizing training camps for young people to give something back.
“Of course I would like to play for the national team. But everything has to fall into place. I can also understand that the guys who have always played in recent years are now playing,” said Hartenstein. “A team that has become world champions is now playing there. Not much will change anyway.” The center, whose strengths lie more in defense, was not part of last year’s world champion team and will also be a father for the first time this summer.
Hardly any contact with Herbert
He has had no real contact with national coach Gordon Herbert in the past two years. Now it has become a little more. “I’ve always been very open about the fact that the NBA is my biggest priority. He wanted to have a certain consistency in the national team. I couldn’t promise him that,” explained Hartenstein. “I don’t want to force myself into it. There’s a team playing there now that has become world champions.”
During the week, Maxi Kleber from the Dallas Mavericks, who also missed out on last year’s World Championships, had already canceled his participation in the Summer Olympics.
