Brooklyn Nets fans everywhere can rejoice knowing that Joe Harris is safe and sound in his Brooklyn apartment. The current Net, known to many as Joey Buckets, “sat down” with Ian Eagle at 3pm EST on Monday via the NBA’s live Instagram feed and the two chatted for about 15 minutes. Here are 10 takeaway from their brief conversation.
10 Takeaways from Joe Harris & Ian Eagle Chat
- Joe Harris WANTS to be a Net. Towards the end of the conversation, Eagle asked Joe the question if he wanted to play out his career in Brooklyn. Harris summarized that while he would love to be a Brooklyn Net for the rest of his career, he understands that this off-season will be a busy one for Sean Marks and that certain personnel decisions are out of his control. But his main message here was that, if possible, he would like to remain a Net as long as possible. Joe has been an integral part of the much improved culture that Marks has built with former Nets HC Kenny Atkinson since Harris arrived in Brooklyn 4 years ago.
- Joe Harris is HEALTHY and looks fantastic. One of the first questions Ian Eagle asked, and rightfully so, was about Harris’s health, since 3 anonymous Nets players had been diagnosed with COVID-19 several weeks ago (they are all now symptom-free). Harris quickly assured Eagle and fans that he has been doing well during quarantine and that he is in fact, healthy. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t point out the fact that, for a guy who’s been stuck in his apartment for the last few weeks, Joe Harris is STILL one handsome dude.
- The Nets gave Harris and other players a bike. For guys like Joe who live in apartments in either Brooklyn or Manhattan, access to a basketball court is darn near impossible. The Nets have provided stationary bikes to all players of the Nets homes. Along with shooting a basketball up in the air throughout the day, Harris has also been practicing dribbling workouts in his apartment and doing whatever he can to keep his skills sharp. He’s kept in touch with a ton of his teammates and even gave Spencer Dinwiddie a birthday shout-out during the video.
- Grew up a Seattle Supersonics fan. Harris briefly touched upon growing up in the Midwest and rooting for the Sonics. While Ray Allen was his favorite player, he also enjoyed the Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf teams as well.
- He confirms that his nickname is BUCKETS. Joe Harris confirmed with Ian Eagle that his nickname is in fact, Joey Buckets. Most of his teammates regularly refer to him as “Buckets,” despite the other nickname Richard Jefferson has tried to create for him, “Beef Jerky Buckets.”
- Shouts out TOR and IND as toughest defenses to play against. When asked who the toughest player to score against was, Joe pivoted and mentioned that teams like Toronto, Indiana, and Milwaukee are all equally hard to score against because they are extremely organized and rarely get caught out of position on defense.
- Favorite NBA Arenas to Shoot in. Harris said that there are certain arenas in which the lighting helps with his ability to nail shots. He mentioned his favorite arenas to play in are the Barclays Center (of course) and Madison Square Garden.
- Comes from a family of athletes. Harris mentioned that his mother and all three of his sisters are excellent athletes. His sister Kaiti played college basketball and his sister Jaicee played college volleyball. Joe’s father was his high school basketball coach, and as Harris alludes to, they had a great balance of keeping their on-the-court relationship separate from their home-life.
- Joe Harris makes a mean banana bread. Harris told a story in which he and his sister competed in a banana bread baking contest. While he finished the story by saying his mother came in and beat them both, I would still like to assume, based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever, that Harris did win the competition and that his banana bread was indeed delicious.
- Has never seen any player take care of their body more than Lebron James. Harris played with Lebron in Cleveland during his first 2 years in the NBA. When Eagle asked if Harris was surprised by the elite level James is still performing at in Los Angeles, Harris shared that since when it comes to keeping the body in peak physical shape, he hasn’t met anyone do it better than Lebron James. My takeaway here? I guess Taco Tuesdays and the occasional glass of red wine do wonders for an athlete’s body.
I hoped you enjoyed my 10 takeaways from Ian Eagle’s Instagram live chat with Joe Harris. Follow @firesidenets on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for your latest Brooklyn Nets news and listen to the Fireside Nets w/ Spen & Nick podcast!