Q. Everyone is going to ask about the three-point shot. I'm curious about the floater? When did that develop?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: It's definitely a go-to move. I use it a lot. Especially in the playoffs and trying to -- that's shots where I can -- especially against taller guys, I don't have to force my way through the paint and can always get to that.
My dad, just growing up he wanted me to put me in different positions on the court, whether it was handling the ball, whether it was doing different things on the court passing. It's kind of just from there. He just taught me how to use my touch from a very young age and kind of transferred over to where I found the shot that can always kind of use especially against taller guys.
Q. I asked Isaiah Joe about the name. Are you cool with Hart?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: Yeah, Hart. He was the first one here. He can keep Sai. I'll stick with Hart. It's cool.
Q. I wanted to ask you about your role defensively. Where do you feel like you can enhance what they have?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: Just from afar playing against them, just the versatility. I feel like Mark has a lot of guys on the court where he can play versatile line-ups, play versatile styles of defense, and that's really exciting to me just having so many defensive threats.
I mean, I don't really know if there's any defensive liabilities on the court at all. Even if you look at Shai, I think he led the league in steals last year. From top to bottom, it's a really good defensive team, but then also Mark has the luxury to be versatile offensively.
It's something I was really excited about. It's a lot of young guys, but very professional. I don't think you see that a lot in the NBA. Especially a group of young guys just being so professional on and off the court was something I was really intrigued by.
Q. Do you care about whether you start or come off the bench?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: No. I mean, I'm a guy that's been in every position. So I'm just here to help the team win. That's kind of also why I'm here is because I trust Mark's decision. Whatever he does, he's a really versatile coach. I mean, you watched last year. Some games the guys who would start would start the second half.
Just being here and doing whatever the team needs to win. If that's coming off the bench or starting, I'm just here to help the team win. That's the main thing.
Q. Chet usually played last year as the only big on the floor. What have you thought of the potential of playing alongside him in double big line-ups?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: Should be exciting. We'll see kind of how it works out. I mean, I think we're both versatile bigs. It's not like we're just, like, slow-footed bigs. We both play the right way.
He's really versatile. I'm very versatile. Defensively I think the rim protection is going to be great, but at the end of the day we'll see how it works. That's kind of stuff for Mark to figure out.
Q. I think back in June you said something along the lines of seeing the culture here from afar. Now that you've been here for weeks, months, just how have you felt about that?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: It's been great. I feel like just from top to bottom they run the organization. It's been really good. Very process-driven. I feel like that's something you need to win. A lot of teams get too ahead of themselves. They kind of plan too far in the future, but then forget the steps that you really need to win.
So I think just from strength coaches, from the players, from the GM, it's very process-driven. I feel like that's been something good to see.
Q. I think you said Shai was one of the first people to reach out to you. Speaking of the culture, what role have you seen him playing in that, and what are your early impressions of him as a leader?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: I mean, he hasn't really been -- just because of the national team he wasn't really around the last couple of weeks, but he's always been in communication through text and stuff like that.
His approach to the game is kind of the cool thing to see from afar, the approach he has, and then especially as a leader. If you have a approach like that, most of the players follow, yeah.
Q. I could be wrong, but it seems like when I see a left-hander in the NBA, he's usually a perimeter player. I don't remember a ton of left-handed bigs. Is being left-handed help you? Does it give you a split-second edge on guys who aren't accustomed to that?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: I don't know, to be honest. Maybe, I guess. Yeah. I don't know how to answer that, to be honest.
Q. You played with Shai and Lug at the Nike Hoops in 2017. Lug was in here earlier and said that you gave him a hard time.
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: He didn't say a word. I was, like, Yo, what's up? He barely gave me a head nod. He is starting to talk a little bit more. He kind of used the excuse he didn't know English at the time, but maybe I looked scary at the time. Definitely talking a lot more.
Q. Have you had a chance to think about how your life has changed? You met with your team. You are seen as a big reason why the Thunder are picked to win the West. Meanwhile, your old team, the Knicks, are trying to -- (indiscernible). All this is triggered by -- (indiscernible).
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: I mean, right now I'm kind of just focusing on the process of it. I know that I had a decision to make in the summer. It was an exciting decision for me to come here. I kind of talked about before how it was hard for me to leave the Knicks, but now I'm very here.
So I'm just excited to be here, excited to be a part of the team and do whatever the team needs to win. So whatever they're doing right now, I mean, I know Leon does a great job, so whatever they do, they're going to do, but I'm here right now.
Q. Obviously today we talked about it, but when you talked to us in June, you gave us your first 0-0. That's been thrown out here a lot. Just what impression have Sam and Mark left on you early in terms of that mindset?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: That's kind of how I approach life in general. You're going to start off with a new day. So start off 0-0. That's just kind of good to see that the whole franchise is on that same kind of level. Every day is a new day. You have to prove yourself every day. It doesn't matter what you did yesterday. You have to kind of start from zero.
Q. Lastly, we have a Sunday night TV show where we play the percentages at the end. The question was, what percentage of the time do you expect you to start? My name was 40%. What's the correct answer?
ISAIAH HARTENSTEIN: The correct answer is ask Mark to figure that out because I could tell you a random number, but I don't know. Ask Mark. He'll let you all know.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports