Sharpshooter's retirement is harsh lesson about aging in the NBA

People say great shooters can play forever in the NBA. The recent retirement of Joe Harris shows that accuracy alone isn't enough to hang around in the highly athletic league.

At his peak, Harris was one of the NBA's best three-point shooters. He twice led the league in three-point percentage, hitting over 47 percent of his triples in both the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 seasons while taking a high volume of shots behind the arc. Harris even defeated Stephen Curry in the Three-Point Contest at the 2019 All-Star Weekend.

But Harris fell off a cliff after suffering an ankle injury early in the 2021-2022 season. He only played 14 games before opting for season-ending surgery. Though he shot an excellent 42.6 percent from deep in 2022-2023, his diminished athleticism made the 6-foot-6 shooter nearly unplayable. After a salary-dump trade to Detroit before last season, Harris played just 16 games for the team, despite the Pistons being one of the NBA's poorest-shooting teams.

That's why shooting proficiency simply isn't enough for a player to achieve longevity. When you look at the oldest players in the NBA, you see players who tend to be tall, incredibly athletic or both. Aside from a few aging player-coaches like Nat Hickey and Bob Cousy, the list of the NBA's oldest players includes athletic centers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kevin Willis, along with freak athletes like Vince Carter, who could still do highlight dunks in street clothes at age 42.

A player will inevitably lose some athleticism as he ages. That's why the players who last are the ones who were once incredibly quick, like Chris Paul, or have remarkable hand-eye coordination and endurance like Stephen Curry. Or, they have overwhelming strength and explosiveness, like LeBron James. All three of those players can also shoot, but it's their other physical gifts that keep them relevant.

Harris could probably still beat most NBA players in a three-point contest, but he simply lost the mobility to stay on the court. Shooting is a valuable skill, but to last in the NBA into your mid-thirties requires some truly exceptional physical gifts.