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Many tales have been told about Markelle Fultz' struggles with his shooting form. While some claim the issue is purely mental, the Philadelphia 76ers reportedly rode news of his shoulder injury in hopes to escape the scrutiny that would come from not only selecting a guy that suffered from the yips with the No. 1 overall pick but also trading assets in hopes to get him.
According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Sixers had done their homework on Fultz and rode every injury report as a reason their top pick couldn't make shots.
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“The Sixers sent Fultz to several prominent doctors, but none of them found anything to prevent him from making shots. Sources have long said that Fultz's shooting woes were mental, that he had the yips and that the shoulder injury was not a factor.
Still, the Sixers maintained that Fultz's poor shooting was the result of, at first, his shoulder woes and later a scapular muscle imbalance. Perhaps they were protecting Fultz from the scrutiny they thought he would receive from having a mental block regarding his shot. Maybe they were protecting themselves from the scrutiny they would likely receive from trading up two spots and surrendering a future first-round pick for a player with a mental block.”
This is hardly the first time the Sixers have been non-transparent with the media, as they did so with Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons when they struggled with injuries — sending several mixed signals through the process.
Markelle Fultz played the first four games of the 2017-18 regular season before being diagnosed with shoulder soreness and expected to miss only three games with the injury. That absence resulted in him missing the next 64 games of the season, as he worked to re-construct his shooting form.
