Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas had some sound advice for Philadelphia Sixers guard Markelle Fultz's shooting woes: learn how to shoot from an actual NBA player.
“If you want to learn to shoot, please get some NBA players to teach you how to shoot,” Thomas said on NBA TV per The Undefeated. “You can’t go get little guys who never played in the NBA, never faced defensive pressure — and that guy’s going to teach you to shoot? It’s not going to happen.”
To be clear, this jab happened about two weeks ago.
The Pistons guard suggested this as he and co-NBA TV analyst Kevin McHale broke down Fultz's shots.
Fultz worked a great deal on fixing his broken jump shot during the summer with his shooting coach Drew Hanlen, who trains several NBA players such as Jayson Tatum and Joel Embiid. However, Thomas and McHale don't seem to be buying into his training strategy with a non-NBA player like Hanlen.
As former NBA players, they believe that Fultz can learn best from players who have played at the highest level. This actually makes a lot of sense because they are the ones who go through the motions of an actual game.
Fultz had one of the weirdest rookie seasons in recent memory. He was highly touted coming out of Washington as a dynamic guard who could score in a variety of ways. But prior to the 2017-18 season, Fultz decided to tweak his shooting motion, and everything seemed to fall apart from there on. He went on to miss 68 games due to an alleged shoulder injury before returning for the final 10 games of the regular season. He did play quite well towards the end, but his season had already been clouded by his broken jumper.
As mentioned, Fultz worked diligently this pre-season to fix his severely flawed jumper. He confidently showcased his, albeit still not textbook, new and improved jump shot during the preseason as he even fired away some three-pointers without hesitation.
The important thing with Fultz right now is that he feels more confident with his jump shot. But the next step for him is to get his mechanics right, and perhaps the Hall of Famer Thomas is right – he should seek the help of a fellow NBA player.
J.J. Redick is right there, Markelle.
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