Former UVA star Joe Harris retires from basketball

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Joe Harris, one of the most popular players in Virginia basketball history who helped turn the Cavaliers program around early in the Tony Bennett era, has retired from the game after a decade in the NBA.

A native of Chelan, Wash., Harris, nicknamed “Joey Buckets” for his prolific scoring, helped UVA to two NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Cavaliers’ first trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 19 years (his sophomore season, 2013-14). He was voted the ACC Tournament MVP and second-team All-ACC as a senior, and first-team All-ACC as a junior.

When Harris left Virginia, he was the program’s all-time leader in games played (135), second in 3-point field goals (263) and 3-point percentage (40.7), and 11th in scoring (1,698 points).

He was drafted by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round in 2014 as the 33rd overall pick. Harris played two years with Cleveland and was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2016, but was waived before signing with the Brooklyn Nets, where he played — and flourished — for seven seasons.

Brooklyn traded him to Detroit for salary purposes and Harris played in only 16 games for the Pistons last season, averaging 2.4 points and 10.6 minutes per game.

Harris leaves an NBA career with some prestigious numbers, finishing as the fifth-most accurate 3-point shooter in league history behind Steve Kerr, Hubert Davis, Luke Kennard and Drazen Petrovic.

The 32-year-old Harris finished with 504 regular-season games played and averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 triples made per game and 1.6 assists, shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from beyond the arc.

His 3-point numbers were even more impressive during his time with Brooklyn, making 44 percent from the arc and 48.3 percent from the field, highlighted from 2018-19 through 2020-21 when he averaged between 13.7 and 14.5 points per game.

In 2018-19 (47.4) and 2020-21 (47.5), he led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage and was champion of the NBA 3-Point Contest at the 2019 All-Star weekend, beating Stephen Curry (by a 26-24 count) in the final round of the competition.

Hampered by injuries in 2022-23, the former Wahoo played in only 74 games in Brooklyn, with his court time reduced to 20.6 minutes per game. His scoring thusly declined to 7.6 points per outing.

Harris was a crowd favorite at Virginia, with his All-American good looks drawing stares from the coeds and adoring female fans. Most fans admired him for his strong play and his modesty, going out of his way to learn about the history of the UVA basketball program, which he displayed a true appreciation for.