After two tumultuous seasons in Philadelphia, Markelle Fultz, once thought to be the final piece of The Process alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, was shipped off to Orlando at the trade deadline.
After the 76ers traded up to select Fultz no. 1 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, the former Washington Huskies point guard was besieged by injuries, the complete and total loss of his jump shot and a lot of other strange stuff. He appeared in just 33 games over two seasons for the 76ers, and will now try and restart his career with the Magic while continuing to rehab back from his latest injury.
Fultz was officially introduced by the Magic at a press conference on Thursday morning, and the point guard had some interesting things to say about his time in Philly. He began by stating that he and the Magic have had conversations about handling his rehab “the right way,” which is eyebrow-raising enough on its own, and then continued on to say this.
https://twitter.com/ESPN580Nick/status/1096079029952802816
The rift between Fultz and the 76ers is winding and complicated, with both sides holding enough gripes and grudges for a 30 For 30 documentary. It’s hard to parse what Fultz even means when he says Philly’s coaching staff was just telling him what he wanted to hear. Does he think they tried to rush him back multiple times when he clearly wasn’t ready? Does he think the organization coddled him too much, thus compounding the complete and utter loss of confidence in his jumper and overall ability to play basketball?
More of Fultz’s side of the story may come out the longer he’s in Orlando, but his comments today feel like just the tip of the iceberg.
