Markelle Fultz has been the focal point of controversy and drama ever since he was drafted by the 76ers with the 1st overall pick in 2017. After his free throw shooting looked terrible at the beginning of his rookie season, he told The Ringer that he had shoulder pain which was the root of his woeful shooting. Markelle Fultz ended up playing only 14 games in his rookie season averaging 7.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 3.8 APG on 40.5% from the field and 47.6% from free throws.
Then came Fultz’s 2nd season where he was still experiencing soreness in his shoulder and still didn’t look right. He started 15 games straight, but still looked about the same like he did in his rookie season, with no real shot form. After all of this drama, a lot of controversies came with it. Jayson Tatum who the Celtics traded down and got was playing well while Markelle Fultz (the 1st overall pick) was looking like a bust already.
On February 7th, 2019, the 76ers traded Markelle Fultz to the Orlando Magic for Jonathan Simmons, a protected 2020 1st rounder and a 2nd rounder. The Magic decided to work on putting all their resources to help Fultz fix up his shot and become healthy again.
With the pressure from the 76ers and their fans, Fultz was not in the right place mentally and physically. They didn’t want to hear excuses, but more wanted immediate results. The Magic decided to sit Fultz the rest of the 2018-19 season and let him get healthy. Fultz was given the opportunity to finally work on himself without the pressure.
“I’m just blessed and extremely thankful for it,” Fultz said of his Sixers stint. “I think without going through what I’ve gone through I wouldn’t be where I am at today. As much as I learned, not only about basketball, but just about life. You are going to have bumps and bruises that go through your life, at some point in life. I was just fortunate enough to go through it early in my career.”
Markelle Fultz
With his first official season with the Magic, Markelle Fultz looked different. His shot looked improved and didn’t look totally wack. He started 60 out of 72 games for the Magic and became one of their most valuable assets. Fultz finally showed what he was capable of all along and portrayed the skills that he showed in college.
Fultz ended up averaging 12.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 5.1 APG on 46.5% from the field and 73% from free throw land. Although those might look like average numbers, those are impressive numbers for Fultz after all he’d gone through. Fultz finally had shown signs and flashes of what he could be with the Magic. Although his 3-pt percentage wasn’t good at 26.7%, he did everything else pretty well.
Now in the 2020-21 season, Fultz has shown flashes of stardom that he showed in college. The same flashes that made him the undisputed #1 overall pick in 2017, he has been showing all of it and more. Markelle Fultz is currently averaging 18.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 5.8 APG on 43.1% from the field 93.3% from free throw land. Fultz has improved all of his statistics immensely from his rookie season when everyone doubted him.
As a basketball fan, I honestly just want to see Markelle Fultz succeed more than anything. He was doubted by many for something he couldn’t control and he put his head down and went to work and now it’s paying off.
