Bigger Than Banners

When Isaiah Hartenstein steps onto a basketball court, he carries the proverbial lunch pail mentality with him. While the term has nearly vanished in today’s star-driven NBA, it still applies to those who are called upon to do the difficult and often glamor-less jobs that help teams win.

This mentality has proved to fit perfectly with a young Oklahoma City Thunder team that had championship aspirations. Hartenstein’s first season in Oklahoma City helped propel the 2024-25 Thunder to the team’s first NBA championship since relocating from Seattle in 2008.in

At 7 feet and 250 pounds, Hartenstein is suited to the demands of his basketball role, including setting screens and battling for rebounds. However, that rugged and physical exterior tends to overshadow the heart (no pun intended) he displays away from the court.

He along with his wife, Kourtney (Kellar) Hartenstein, founded the Hartenstein Foundation and have taken on the roles of philanthropists and community benefactors. It’s a job they have been drawn to ever since arriving in Oklahoma City.  

“I think it’s two-sided. I think the community does so much for us. I think without the community, we wouldn’t be able to play the sport we love,” Isaiah said. “And then just being able to see the smiles on the people’s faces—I’m in a really privileged situation, so any time I can give back, any time I can help someone, it’s always really important to me.”

As hard as Isaiah works at his day job, he and Kourtney have seemingly put in as much effort to transform the Hartenstein Foundation into an influential, effective non-profit that supports youth and families facing food insecurity and other diverse needs.

“The Hartenstein Foundation was created out of a shared desire to give back in a meaningful, hands-on way,” says Kourtney. “The focus was always on supporting children and families and creating opportunities for people who may need a little extra help or encouragement. Family is everything to us. We know how support and kindness can make an impact, and we want to use our platform to help make things a little easier for families in our community whenever we can.”

Since 2024, the Hartenstein Foundation has donated more than 150,000 meals to those facing food insecurity, and helped contribute more than $550,000 in community investment, donations and resources to the greater Oklahoma City community.

In the first four months of this year, the Foundation hosted an I-Hart Pizza Fundraiser with Birra Birra Craft Pizzeria to benefit local youth and families; donated $10,000 to OKC nonprofit ReMerge; presented new sneakers and $15,000 to the Star Spencer High basketball team; and threw another pizza party at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.

While Isaiah, who was drafted in 2017, has always considered himself a charitable giver, he admitted it wasn’t always as selfless as it might have appeared.

“If I’m being honest, I always wanted to give back. But I think there was a certain ego involved with that,” he says. “I think a lot of times, the main thing is always giving back. But I always noticed you want a certain acknowledgement for it.”

However, after arriving in Oklahoma City, something changed. He was no longer seeking outside acknowledgment, the pats on the back or people telling him how special he was. At some point, the act of giving became its own reward.

Creating the foundation has allowed both Isaiah and Kourtney to do more than either ever thought possible.

“Giving back was always something my family valued, but I’d never believe you if you told me one day I’d be a part of my own family foundation,” Kourtney says. “This was something Isaiah and I put on our vision boards after we met, and it’s been a dream come true for us to be able to give back.”

In April, the Hartenstein Foundation produced a documentary titled The Oklahoma Standard. It highlights the people and spirit of the state and focuses on the values of service, resilience and community that emerged in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.

Isaiah, who is a native of Eugene, Oregon, was just 3 years old when the Oklahoma City bombing took place. He admitted he knew nothing about the devastation it caused or the city’s rebuild until the Thunder’s General Manager, Sam Presti, took him on a tour of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. 

As the Hartensteins learned how the city and state responded to the tragedy, it changed their perspective. 

“I think just having a city respond like that, a city be egoless in their approach to giving back—I don’t think anyone was thinking much about themselves,” Isaiah says. “They were just thinking, ‘How can I help?’ And even the people giving stuff, they didn’t have anything. They were giving their own shoes; whatever someone needed. I had never seen anything like that. And it really helped change my approach to giving back.”

Now that Isaiah has been part of the team and community for the past two years, the Oklahoma Standard has become a North Star for him.

“I think the Oklahoma Standard is really just all about the community. And so, I think Sam Presti does a good job of helping us learn and grow with it,” Isaiah says. “But then you see it throughout the organization, where it doesn’t matter what you do; we all know our worth. We all know that without that other person, we’re not able to do what we do.”

Before Isaiah had even played in a single game, he and Kourtney made their first trip to Positive Tomorrows, Oklahoma’s only elementary school for children and families experiencing homelessness. A week later, the Hartenstein Foundation hosted a back-to-school event there. Soon after, the foundation presented a check for $50,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County during a visit.

“Isaiah Hartenstein has just become a club member since he’s been part of the Oklahoma City community with the Thunder,” says Teena Belcik, the President and CEO of the Boys and & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County. “He is here on a fairly regular basis and knows many of the kids. They know him, and they call him I-Hart. They want to know when ‘Mr. Isaiah’ or ‘Mr. I-Hart’ is coming and want to know if he’s going to stay today to play basketball with them. He has just blessed us in so many ways with everything from spending time, kind of under the radar, with the kids to providing a brand-new court at one of our clubs to providing shoes for kids, boxes of food for the holidays, and many more things.”

For nearly two years, these moments have been a part of their family’s rhythm. No matter how demanding the NBA schedule becomes, the Hartensteins do not let their charitable duties take a backseat. Earlier this season, Isaiah walked into the Memorial Park Club of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County only a few hours after returning from a road game in New Orleans, having come straight from the airport to spend time with the kids.

In partnership with the Hartenstein Foundation, Isaiah and Kourtney distributed 400 meal boxes to families in need. They could have easily had others distribute the meals, but doing it themselves gave them a chance to connect one-on-one with community members.

“Being present is very important to both of us. We never want the foundation to feel distant or transactional,” says Kourtney, who is a native of Texas. “We genuinely care about the people we’re serving, and showing up in person allows us to build real relationships with the community.”

Originally, Hartenstein had planned to host a holiday event with the Boys & Girls Clubs. But after seeing families struggle during the government shutdown during that time, he adapted—he knew those families needed more than bringing them together for a big holiday meal.

“I think for us it was really important, especially knowing the insecurity with food right now,” Hartenstein said at the time. “I think a lot of the SNAP benefits had gone down a lot. So being able to bring 400 meal boxes, which can be 20,000 meals, was something really important to us. Being able to make sure the kids and everyone get enough food is always really important to us.”

Isaiah and Kourtney, who had their first child in 2024, have put a special emphasis on helping kids in need.

“Becoming parents made everything more personal,” says Kourtney. “It deepened our connection to the work we were already doing, and gave us an even stronger passion for supporting children and creating positive experiences for families.”

Long after Isaiah’s basketball career is over, what the Hartenstein Foundation has done to provide a helping hand to those who just needed a lift could be the most important legacy they leave in Oklahoma, no matter how many championship banners he helps the team raise.

“I think that’s one of the biggest things for me, just for the kids, is setting an example; how to approach life, how to navigate through life,” Isaiah said. “Most of the people here are not in great situations. So being able to give hope, being able to give knowledge”—and also sharing the mindset of generosity, so “whenever they make it to wherever they want to get to in life, that they also give back.” •