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By Alex Kirschenbaum
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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Orlando Magic point guard Markelle Fultz seems to have truly found himself in his second NBA home. Now a starter on an exciting young team, Fultz has streamlined his game, emerging as a terrific point-of-attack defender and slasher. But this wasn't always the case. As the former top pick in the 2017 draft out of Washington, Fultz struggled through a spooky injury that shook his confidence mightily. He detailed the trouble to Nick Friedell of The Ringer in an intriguing conversation.
"I've been not ranked and had to work my way up to the top, and I've been the top player, no. 1 pick," Fultz says. "I pride myself on just being one of those guys that's never going to quit and never going to fold."
The Philadelphia 76ers, then in their "Trust The Process" era, opted to trade up with the Boston Celtics to select Fultz with the top draft selection in 2017. They shipped the third pick to then-Boston team president Danny Ainge, who used it to snatch perennial All-NBA power forward Jayson Tatum. Fultz may never reach those heights, but he's managed to become a solid starter on a playoff-bound club in Orlando. And he could make an All-Defensive team one of these years, if health permits.
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Fultz instantly was dealt a major blow as a rookie with Philadelphia. A mysterious shoulder injury plagued him for much of the 2017-18 season. Dealing with the injury created tension between himself and the Sixers front office.
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"I already felt my shoulder, but our first game was in D.C., which is my hometown," he recalls. "And me being who I am, I still put myself on the line for my team. I didn't know any better. I'm young, just coming up, and wanted to play at home for the first time."
Team doctors and specialists alike were befuddled. The Sixers thought a change to Fultz's shot mechanics caused the injury, a notion he disputed. So he got even more professional opinions.
"They didn't really know what it was," he recalls. "I got MRIs, and that was probably the toughest part about it because I'm going to doctors, and they're saying they don't see anything, but me being who I am, I feel that I'm not right. And I know my body isn't right. But when you hear the doctors saying that, it messes with your mind a little bit because it's like I know something's wrong, but they're not saying anything is wrong."
Fultz played fleetingly as a rookie, and was a little-used bench option in the 2018 postseason. The injury lingered through the start of the 2018-19 season, too. All told, he played in just 34 contests through his first two pro seasons with the club, averaging 7.7 points on .414/.267/.534 shooting splits, 3.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 0.9 steals a night.
"That was the time where it was really dark as far as I lost an outlet for myself," Fultz says. "Basketball's always been an outlet for me as far as when I have things off the court going on, I can always go play basketball, and it puts me at peace. And I lost that. I couldn't just go on the court and shoot for hours just to let my mind free because I couldn't do that the way I wanted. So it kind of became stressful, but I still found other ways. I would go in the gym and shoot left-handed. I would go in the gym, still shoot trick shots."
He was flipped to the Magic in 2019, and quickly appeared totally revitalized. Fultz averaged 12.1 points on 46.5% shooting from the floor, 5.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals a night, while playing in 72 games (60 starts). He was beset by further injury issues in 2020-21 and 2021-22, but was fairly healthy last year. Injuries have troubled him again this year, with tendonitis being the prime culprit. He's played in just 30 games for Orlando in 2023-24. Fultz will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and could fetch good money, despite all his injury troubles.
"Everything I've been through has given me a different appreciation just to be able to play the game," Fultz noted. "I think a lot of people have kind of forgotten about me... But I believe in the work, and I know I still have a lot of time."
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