Markelle Fultz’s Trainer Said He’s Still Hurt, But That’s Reportedly Not True

For more than a year, nothing regarding 2017’s No. 1 overall pick has been easy to figure out. Markelle Fultz spent the majority of his rookie year on the sidelines battling a mysterious shoulder injury that caused him to dramatically alter his shooting form to the severe detriment of his game.

Updates on Fultz’s status sometimes contradicted the previous one and there were questions about how much of his issues were physical or mental, with the dreaded “yips” tag being placed on him. Over the summer, Fultz worked tirelessly to rebuild his jump shot with trainer Drew Hanlen, and the Sixers were pleased with the progress he made this offseason, to the point that they inserted him into the starting lineup to begin this year.

The jury, however, is still out on the Fultz experiment as he continues to have shooting woes and, when he’s on the court with Ben Simmons, the Sixers have been rather dreadful offensively. There has been good to go along with the bad but so much of the focus remains on his shooting, which can often produce some ugly lowlights, like his horrific miss against the Nets in a loss on Sunday. After the game, Hanlen responded to a tweet from a fellow basketball trainer, Clint Parks, who made fun of Hanlen’s “Pure Sweat” brand by calling him “Pure Sucka” and asking for an explanation about Fultz’s play. Hanlen took offense in a since-deleted tweet that caught the eyes of many because he insisted Fultz still isn’t healthy.

That flies in the face of what we’ve been told about Fultz really since the end of last season, and it sparked quite the controversy on social media. Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice poked around and talked with folks in the Sixers organization to figure out if that was true, and came away with the consensus that Fultz was not still dealing with any injury issues beyond the typical wear and tear of an NBA player during the season.

But there doesn’t appear to be an unknown problem here. PhillyVoice conducted discussions with numerous people in the know on Monday afternoon, and the consensus is that Fultz is not dealing with any issue beyond what a normal NBA player faces during an 82-game season.

And so, the Fultz saga continues the same as it has for a year now. The Sixers saying one thing about Fultz while his camp offers differing thoughts on his health and what’s bothering him.