“Another Black Man Paid”: Isaiah Hartenstein’s $87 Million Contract Elicits Hilarious Reaction From Miles McBride

The 2024 NBA free agency has already seen some notable names join new teams to form stronger alliances going forward. With the Clippers adding Derrick Jones Jr. and the Wizards landing Jonas Valanciunas, Isaiah Hartenstein has been the latest name on the list of players leaving their former team to join a new one. But instead of being disgruntled, his former teammate congratulated him.

As per Adrian Wojnarowski, “Free agent C Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed on a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hartenstein leave the Knicks for the top West seed eager to add his size, skill, and physicality.”

Isaiah Hartenstein’s move to leave the New York Knicks led his former teammate Miles McBride to congratulate him on X.(formerly Twitter.)

“Another black man paid, love to see it!!”

For those of you who are not aware, Miles McBride’s tweet is actually a joke that stems from Isaiah Hartenstein’s episode on the Roommates Show podcast. During an episode, Hartenstein revealed he was actually black.

“You know it’s like lightskin? I’m brightskin. I’m above lightskin. My dad is black.”

Isaiah Hartenstein categorizing himself as bright-skinned even drew a reaction from former Knicks guard and his old teammate, RJ Barrett. Barrett shared an Instagram post of Adrian Wojnarowski, detailing Hartenstein’s move on his official IG Stories. 

RJ wrote, “This is well deserved Zay congratulations bright skin.”

Now let’s talk about this move and what it means for his former team. Isaiah Hartenstein had already bounced around the league for some time before he arrived in New York. Having played for 4 teams before the Knicks, it seemed as if Hartenstein’s story wouldn’t have been any different here as well.

However, the injury to Mitchell Robinson created a big gap in the team’s rotation that needed to be filled. And Isaiah Hartenstein did a phenomenal job of filling in that role.  

Hartenstein started playing more minutes for the team and saw a substantial increase in all stats across the board. Standing at seven feet, Isaiah became an excellent rebounder for the team, crashing offensive boards and creating second-chance opportunities.

His tall frame also helped the team on the defensive end of the floor as Hartenstein averaged 1.1 blocks per game and his highest steal average of 1.2 steals per game this year.

Losing a valuable big like Hartenstein is bound to create another hole in the team’s rotation, even with Mitchell Robinson having recovered from his injury. The Knicks do have Jericho Sims as another backup big on the roster.

But will Sims have the same effect and impact on the team as Hartenstein did?