Joe Harris: “Defeating Steph Curry Was a Surreal Experience”

Joe Harris surprised everyone last night when he won the All-Star 3-point contest.

For the 27-year old shooting guard, this is the biggest achievement of his professional career.

His win was even more significant because he had Steph Curry as one of his rivals. After the contest, Harris told the reporters that he had a great deal of luck, and that he beat a better shooter than himself.

“Shooting off of the rack for a minute is not indicative of being a better shooter than Steph Curry. I don’t want anybody to get it twisted at all,” said Harris, underlining that he still thinks that Curry is a better shooter than him. “Steph is the greatest shooter of all time.”

But Harris did admit, that defeating a two-time NBA MVP, and one of the best ever, is quite the unforgettable experience.

“For me to come in my first time and to win obviously is quite a surreal experience.”

Harris was the third and the last player who entered the finals. In the first round, he made 25 shots, while Buddy Hield with 26 and Steph Curry with 27 finished in front of him.

A lot of great shooters were left behind, like Danny Green, Devin Booker, Dirk Nowitzki (both past winners), Kemba Walker, Damian Lillard, etc. Harris had the upper advantage because he was shooting first, and that allowed him to be more relaxed and calm.

“I think I was lucky to be the first guy to shoot,” Harris said. “Because I was able to get kind of warm beforehand, and you don’t really have a ton of anxiety.”

He was also the first shooter in the final round. The Brooklyn Nets’ guard improved his record from the previous stage for one point, and all he could do now was to wait and see how things develop.

Buddy Hield reached only 19. It was Steph Curry’s turn now. The fans in Charlotte went wild, as they wanted to see their local guy winning this contest. The noise was even louder when GSW’s leader made 9 of the first 10 shots. Fortunately for Harris, Curry lost his rhythm and finished with 24 points, two fewer than him.

There is no doubt that the 6-6 from Chelan, Washington is yet to show his worth in the league. After 54 games this season, he currently averages 13.9 points, shooting 50.1% from the field, 47.1% behind the three-point border.

He didn’t miss a chance to mention his Nets and point to the fact that they worked hard to get him into this competition. The franchise from Brooklyn is awake after several years, and they would have even more representatives here if last year’s Skills Challenge champions Spencer Dinwiddie was healthy.

“The Nets were pushing hard because obviously, they want guys to be in All-Star Weekend and be represented out here,” Harris said. “We would have had five players here if Spencer (Dinwiddie) would have been healthy.”

Following a lot of troubles in his first two years in the league, while he was in Cleveland, Harris found his oasis in Brooklyn. After just 56 games in two season in Ohio, he was traded to Orlando with a 2017 second-round pick and cash considerations. The Magic waived him instantly. Luckily, some six months later Nets came in, and the rest is history.

This would be his third year here and if everything goes well, the best one so far. Before this season started, he signed a new, two-year deal with the Nets worth $16 million.

At the moment his team is sixth in the Eastern Conference with nice prospects to finish there. That would be a great success for Brooklyn, who now has a young and talented team which might make a huge noise if kept together for a few years.

And they have all the resources for such thing, as two of the oldest players, DeMaree Carroll and Jared Dudley, are out of the picture at the end of the year, clearing around $25 million in the salary cap.