Former Virginia star Joe Harris’ season is over due to second surgery

By Jerry Ratcliffe

One of UVA basketball’s favorite sons, Joe Harris, has been shut down for the remainder of the NBA season.

Harris, who was known to Virginia fans as “Joey Buckets” for his scoring ability, will undergo a second ankle surgery that will end his season with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. His last game action was in mid-November, his 14th game of the season before he suffered an ankle injury that required surgery (Nov. 29).

His ankle did not heal properly and now he will undergo arthroscopic surgery sometime in the next few weeks. Originally, Harris, 30, was expected to miss four to eight weeks.

The new procedure will keep him out of action for four to six months, but the veteran shooter should make a full recovery and will be ready for his seventh season with the Nets next season.

With the lethal 3-point shooting missing from the Nets lineup, the team brought in Seth Curry and Goran Dragic to add some scoring punch from the perimeter.

“We feel terrible for Joe and we all know how much he means to this group,” said Nets GM Sean Marks.