Markelle Fultz has had a very tumultuous career at the start of his time in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers made a big move in the 2017 NBA draft to trade up to the number 1 pick to select him out of Washington and he was expected to make a big impact.
Instead, he only played 14 games as a rookie due to a bizarre shoulder injury and there was a lot of action going on behind the scenes that confused a lot of people. He was then given an opportunity to start in his second season, but the fit next to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid was not good.
The team acquired Jimmy Butler, Fultz played a few more games off the bench, and then he left the team to go see a shoulder specialist in New York. He played his final game with the Sixers on Nov. 19, 2018 and the team sent him to the Orlando Magic at the trade deadline after 33 games across two seasons.
Fast forward to the present day and he is the starting point guard in Orlando and he is having a fast start to the 2020-21 season. He’s averaging 18.3 points and 5.8 assists while working on his 3-point game. He has continued to persevere and he has credited his time in Philadelphia for his progression.
“Just blessed for it,” said Fultz on Thursday morning. “I think without going through what I’ve been through, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. As much as I learned, not only about basketball but just about life, you’re gonna have bumps and bruises that go through in your life at some point in life. I was just fortunate to go through early in my career.”
His time in Philadelphia was not easy. There were a lot of expectations placed upon the shoulders of a 19-year old kid who was looking to just begin his NBA career. There were talks of him completing the “process” and due to all of the injuries and adversity, he was never able to live up to those expectations.
“It helped me with my mindset,” Fultz continued. “It helped me with my strengths and weaknesses and being able to grow so I’m just thankful for everything that I’ve been through. Just not in Philly, my whole life and that’s really all it is. I’m just blessed to be able to go through that and just keep looking forward and keep moving forward and that’s all I have.”
Now that he is in Orlando, he has a lot more confidence and it is due to the fact that he is finally healthy and he has his teammates to fall back on. The Magic are presenting him with the chance to put the ball in his hands and make plays and the rest of the team is on board with that.
“I just think I have an opportunity to be comfortable doing that,” Fultz added. “I think my teammates have helped me as well, I think the biggest thing about it is just being healthy and just have the opportunity to have the ball in my hands and play free with it.”
The Sixers will be looking to slow down Fultz and the 4-0 Magic in Orlando with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. EST from the Amway Center.
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