Isaiah Hartenstein, at first glance and even judging by the last name, looks like the classic European long man. In fact, the New York Knicks center revealed, a guest on the podcast hosted by teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, that he he is actually African-American.
Hartenstein was born in Oregon and has German citizenship on his father’s side: in fact, Florian Hartenstein is German by birth and played for 11 years in Germany as a center, first with the Gießen 46ers and then with the Artland Dragons, whose coach he was from 2017 to 2019. Most importantly, his father is black: this effectively makes Isaiah Hartestein himself black. News that surprised his teammates in no small part, given the player’s physical appearance.
Jokingly, Hartenstein referred to himself as “brightskin”, playing on the term “lightskin” which is used, sometimes in a derogatory sense, against players such as Steph Curry. People who are in fact black, but with a very light complexion.
Isaiah Hartenstein reveals he’s actually black 😅
(🎥 @Roommates__Show / https://t.co/RvMAJSMCVr) pic.twitter.com/L7HYcbcWCN
– NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 28, 2024
A similar case to Hartenstein’s may be that of Blake Griffin, also white in appearance but actually black on his father’s side.
This season, played almost entirely as a starter because of Mitchell Robinson’s injury, Hartenstein is keeping 7.4 points and 8.4 rebounds average with the Knicks.
Milan, Italy. A graduate in Labor Management and Communication for Organizations from Catholic University, I founded BasketUniverso in 2011. Yes, I root for Orlando Magic and do my best not to hide it.
