Joe Harris was one of the NBA’s great development stories. Coming out of Virginia, he was relatively unheralded (he was a second-round pick whose athleticism was questioned), traded by the Cavaliers in his second NBA season, and released by the Magic, but then developed with the Brooklyn Nets into one of the game’s best pure shooters – someone who beat Stephen Curry in an All-Star Saturday 3-Point Contest.
Harris has decided to retire from basketball, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
After 10 NBA seasons, Joe Harris has retired from basketball. Harris played 504 NBA games for the Nets, Cavaliers and Pistons. He made 43.6 percent of his three-point shots in his career and won the Three-Point Contest at the 2019 All-Star weekend. pic.twitter.com/2eLPJAhLzU
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) 15 August 2024
Harris signed with Brooklyn in 2016 as GM Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson worked to rebuild a flagging franchise. Within a few years under Atkinson, Harris developed into one of the NBA’s best and most feared shooters. At his peak, from 2018 to 2021, Harris averaged at least 13.7 points per game and, more importantly, shot 45.8% from the three-point line, twice leading the league in three-point percentage. At the 2019 All-Star Game, Harris won the three-point contest.
Things fell apart at the start of the 2021-22 season when Harris suffered a serious ankle injury. After that, he was unable to move or shoot as well. The Nets eventually traded him to Detroit before last season as part of a salary cut.
Over the course of his ten-year career, Harris averaged 10.3 points per game and made 43.6% of his three-pointers, which remains the fifth-best percentage in the league.
