There’s something going on with Markelle Fultz, and as specialists look into what’s ailing the Philadelphia 76ers guard, many are starting to wonder if they’re simply looking in the wrong place. Fultz’s shooting motion simply isn’t where it was when the Sixers traded up to draft him first overall out of Washington last summer. He’s tried everything, rehab and a new shooting style and even just getting shut down for a large chunk of his rookie year.
But it’s 2018 now, we’re past Thanksgiving, and Fultz is still visiting specialists trying to determine what’s wrong with his shoulder (and, more recently, wrist). As the doctor’s visits pile up and nothing seems to be resolved, the questions around his health and what’s happening to one of the NBA’s most promising young players only grow.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported about the strange circumstances surrounding Fultz and the Sixers, a situation so weird the narrative around the team has mostly lost the equally-strange and scary circumstances around 2018 first-round pick Zhaire Smith.
If nothing is physically wrong with Fultz that’s impacting his shooting, then everyone will have to come together and figure out the next course of action. So much has happened to Fultz in his year-plus in the NBA that it’s often difficult to keep track of it all, but this week has failed to give any true updates about the cause of his shooting woes and, well, teammates are starting to worry about what’s going on.
Fultz’s teammates are increasingly concerned about his overall well-being beyond his struggles on the court, league sources told ESPN. The organization has expressed its support as Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, completes his consultations in the coming days.
He met with physicians in New York over the course of the past week and stopped at the team’s suburban Philadelphia practice facility briefly between appointments, sources said.
Fultz has missed the Sixers last four games and the team is reportedly considering a trade, but others in the NBA are rightfully concerned that no one knows exactly what his deal is with his injury. If Fultz has the yips, so to speak, another team might be better suited to help Fultz deal with that in a less public way than how this has played out in Philadelphia. Or, conversely, teams might get scared by an issue that’s more mental than physical.
What’s become clear is that either Fultz is getting bad advice from someone, or good advice is being ignored. As the days pass by and no one can find anything physically wrong with Fultz, it seems clear that everyone’s approach to his health needs to be adjusted.
