After appearing in the final 10 games of the regular season and the first three games of the 2018 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz was relegated to the bench as his team suffered a second-round exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Given the way that Fultz’s rookie season went from an injury standpoint, it wasn’t a shock to see the former No. 1 overall pick removed from Philadelphia’s rotation.
As a potentially pivotal summer arrives, Fultz addressed the media on Thursday during the team’s exit interviews. While Fultz spoke on a wide range of topics, the health of his shoulder was of significance and, while he was upbeat throughout the discussion, the former Washington standout did note that he was still less than 100 percent.
“It’s pretty good, really,” Fultz said. “I’m not all the way there, but I definitely have a lot more work to do. Even if I was 100 percent, I would still want to get better. So, the grind starts now, just to keep working and get better each and every day.”
Because Fultz’s shoulder ailment was so bizarre in nature, it has always been tough to accurately evaluate where he is in the strengthening process and, by proxy, just how effective he can be on the floor. After all, some of Fultz’s implied value as a draft prospect came from his impressive ability to shoot jumpers off the dribble while at the college level and, during his rookie campaign, that tool was no longer available to him due to the injury.
Beyond that, Fultz was also prompted about the potential difficulty of facing off against fellow rookie Jayson Tatum, who he was famously traded for (at least theoretically with draft pick positioning), and the perception of that face-off (and doubt surrounding him) as he watched from the sideline.
“I think I’ve been going through stuff like this my whole life, really,” Fultz said. “Going against the odds, really. It’s a whole bunch of outside noise. I don’t really look to it. I’m with my team. I’m with my family. That’s all I really care about. And myself. All the other stuff doesn’t really matter to me about what they think or what other people have to say. I’m just worried about how my team’s doing, how my coaches and teammates look at me, and how I look at myself.”
Fultz also indicated that he has not yet discussed plans for Summer League with the Sixers, though he expressed a willingness to play if the organization felt that was the best way forward. More than anything, Fultz must display full health and, almost more importantly, confidence in the shoulder that has given him fits over the past several months and, until his play displays that stability, his long and winding road to recovery will continue.
