The health of Markelle Fultz is one of the weirdest stories of the NBA season. It’s not that Fultz is hurt: players get hurt all the time, even first overall picks in the NBA Draft.
Rather, the way the injury was handed is extremely curious. And every update we get on Fultz’ shooting style, his health, and whether he will play again this year only seems to complicate things considerably.
Fultz has been on a “long journey” back to the court after he looked all wrong in the early movements of the season. That led to journalists obsessively watching his shooting style, which is still wrong, whenever he would shoot baskets at open practice. The latest update from Bryan Colangelo, Sixers president and general manager, was far from encouraging.
https://twitter.com/KyleNeubeck/status/961983647749373953
It’s not the first time we’ve gotten a disappointing update about Fultz’s health, but “in the paint” is not an encouraging shooting range. That barely lets you play an in-game contest to win restaurant gift certificates at most NBA arenas. When pressed about whether Fultz will play or get shut down for the season, Colangelo was perhaps honest, but the answer was even more frustrating.
Bryan Colangelo re: Markelle Fultz says there’s always a chance he’ll be out there very soon, and there’s always a chance he’ll be out for the season. So glad we cleared that up
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) February 9, 2018
Maybe it’s both? I’m not sure how reality even works anymore, really. What is clear, though, is that Fultz is still not right. And while I’ve never worked on the medical staff of a professional basketball team, it’s tough to ignore the fact that something seems very, very off here.
