IT seems Isaiah Hartenstein’s doesn’t just score on the court: His family life, too, is blossoming in front of the public’s eyes.
The basketball star and his wife announced they have a baby on the way in classic NBA fashion.
5
Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein began his romance with model Kourtney Kellar – who has appeared in Maxim magazine and on the Miami Swim Week runway – in 2019.
Most recently, the two made the internet swoon when they announced that they are expecting a baby this summer.
Ball in play
As for how their relationship started, however, the German-American athlete made a move that many a man have experience with: He slid into her DMs.
While it’s not unusual to have one of her over 716,000 Instagram followers shoot their shot via the app, Kourtney recalled that Isaiah’s message stood out from her other suitors.
She told the New York Post, “My Instagram is pretty sexy, so I get a lot of comments about my body, which is nice.
“But he came in and messaged me something like, ‘You have the most beautiful smile,’ and sent me his favorite photo of me from my feed.
“I was wearing a turtleneck in that picture. It was really sweet of him.”
The two began FaceTiming, as Isaiah was playing for the Houston Rockets and Kourtney didn’t want to travel all the way down south for an IRL meetup before she knew he was a good guy.
“I confirmed he wasn’t a serial killer and we met up at a restaurant,” she joked to the Post. “It went so great and I was really excited.”
They began officially dating shortly after.
Game fame
Although she had already made a name for herself as Miss Texas International 2017 and as a working model, Kourtney’s following and fame skyrocketed with her newfound public relationship.
In 2022, a few months before they got engaged, she made a humorous TikTok clip poking fun at her life as one of the WAGS – and it racked up over 10 million views.
She began, “The things you’ll find in my NBA boyfriend’s home.”
Among the new Nike packages, recovery area equipment, and special water bottles, she also filmed herself and made a self-deprecating joke about what else he keeps at home, “A blonde gold digger.”
In actuality, the Dallas, Texas native has always been supportive of her man.
She regularly attends games and frequently posts updates from those and other NBA-related events on her social media pages.
It’s no surprise that she’s invested in his sports career, as she grew up going to Mavericks games with her father, and as an adult she herself worked in the industry.
She studied athletic training in college and was a ring girl in various boxing matches, including the infamous Jake Paul fight against Tyrone Woodley.
It was at that 2021 match that she first went viral, partially because TV cameras caught YouTube star Paul trying to flirt with her in the background.
A year later, in April of 2022, Isaiah popped the question in Malibu – as he was playing for the LA Clippers at the time.
5
And Kourtney was thrilled to announce their engagement to the world in her fiancé’s second language, captioning her photo, “Ich hab ja natürlich gesagt,” which translates from German to, “Of course, I said yes.”
Her fiancé also posted photos from the memorable afternoon, writing that he was “excited for the next part of [their] journey.”
Kourtney told The New York Post that the proposal came as a shock to her.
Slam dunk
Although she had been begging her then-boyfriend to do a couple’s photoshoot with her for some time, he continuously refused.
After his season with the Clippers ended that spring, however, he agreed to do one as long as he could pick the photographer: Clippers’ photographer Isaiah King.
“[King] said he wanted a couple solo shots of me, which I thought was weird since the shoot was supposed to be for us, but I agreed,” Kourtney explained to the Post.
When she turned around for one of the shots, there was her man, on one knee with a ring in tow.
“I ugly cried,” she continued. “I couldn’t believe it. I had never been happier and I was so surprised.”
Apple of his eye
The two moved to New York later that summer, thanks to his trade to the New York Knicks, but headed back to California to tie the knot in July of 2023 on a yacht in Newport Beach.
And now, they have taken their family a step further.
Given their life revolves around sports, and specifically the Knicks, it comes as no surprise that they made their baby announcement basketball-themed.
Kourtney posted an Instagram video in which she revealed a baby Hartenstein jersey and sonogram sitting atop a courtside seat at the Knicks arena.
“Seven-foot baby loading,” she began. “Baby boy due June 2024.”
The clip garnered an onslaught of support from her fellow WAGs.
“Can’t wait,” Kendra Randle, the wife of Knicks star Julius Randle, wrote in the comments with a bunch of blue heart emojis.
“AHHH!!! Congratulations mama,” Alexis Bawden, the wife of former Jets running back Nick Bawden, wrote.
5
5