Joe Harris (basketball)

Joseph Malcolm Harris (born September 6, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers, before being selected with the 33rd overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He spent one-and-a-half seasons with the team before being traded and waived due to injury. He was signed by the Brooklyn Nets in 2016, and is one of three players to make 200 three-pointers in one season in the history of the Nets franchise. Harris led the NBA in three-point shooting accuracy in 2018–19 and repeated the feat in 2020–21. Also in 2021, Harris surpassed Dražen Petrović as the Nets' all-time leader in three-point field goal percentage and surpassed Jason Kidd as the Nets' all-time leader in three-point field goals made. Harris ranks fifth in NBA history for career three-point field goal percentage (minimum 1,000 career three-point field goals made) as of March 5, 2024. Harris played for the Detroit Pistons in his final season.

Harris was born and raised in Chelan, Washington to Joseph "Joe" Harris Sr., who coached the boys' basketball team at Bridgeport High for six years and then Chelan High for 25 years, and was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011, and Alice Harris, who grew up playing softball, volleyball and basketball, and is a broker and director of sales at Coldwell Banker Lake Chelan Properties. Harris started going to his father's basketball practices when he was just four years old. He then volunteered to be the team manager from third to eighth grade. As a child, Harris wrote personal goals and quotes from NBA legends on his bedroom walls and ceiling. One of his goals was to take at least 1,000 shots a day.

Harris played all four years for the Mountain Goats at Chelan High, where he was coached by his father, Joe.

In his junior year, he averaged 24.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals a game, and led the Mountain Goats to the Class 1A state tournament with a 24–6 record. He was named AP Class 1A Player of the Year and was selected to the Class 1A All-Tournament first team.

In his senior year, Harris led his team to fifth place in the Class 1A state tournament after leading them to a 26–2 record. He averaged 26.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.4 steals and 1.6 blocks a game, while shooting 59.2% from the field and 76.5% from the free throw line. He was named Washington Mr. Basketball by the Washington State Coaches Association, and named the Gatorade Washington Player of the Year. For the second straight year, Harris was named the AP Class 1A Player of the Year and selected to the Class 1A All-Tournament first team.

He finished off his high school career with 452 assists, 699 rebounds, 282 steals, and a Class 1A state record 2,399 points.

Harris was recruited by head coach Tony Bennett, while Bennett was the head coach at Washington State. When Bennett moved to Virginia, Harris switched his commitment to join him there.

In Harris' collegiate debut for the Virginia Cavaliers, he recorded 2 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in a 76–52 win over William & Mary. On November 18, Harris had his first career start for the Cavaliers and scored 12 points in an 81–60 loss against Stanford. At the Maui Invitational tournament, he scored 19 points on 8-of-13 field goals and 7 rebounds in a 106–63 loss against Washington. In 35 minutes of playing time, Harris scored a then-career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 field goals and grabbed 5 rebounds against Minnesota at the 2010 ACC–Big Ten Challenge, winning by 87–79. On January 2, he had a season-high 2 blocks in a 64–50 victory against LSU. Two days later, Harris scored 16 points with a career-high 5 three-pointers made on 5-of-6 attempts in an 84–63 win against Howard. On February 5, Harris played for a career-high 41 minutes and recorded 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in a 68–70 overtime loss against Miami. On February 26, he grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against Boston College in a 44–63 loss. On March 1, Harris recorded an ACC career-high 19 points on 4-of-7 three-point attempts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, leading the Cavaliers to a 69–58 victory against NC State. The Cavaliers lost to Miami in the first round of the 2011 ACC tournament 69–62 in overtime. The Cavaliers finished the season with a 7–9 conference record and a 16–15 overall record.