In a Season Marred By His Imperfections, Markelle Fultz Finally Got His Perfect Moment

With all due respect to Kawhi Leonard going full Ricky Bobby, Markelle Fultz forgetting how to shoot has far and away been the most bizarre storyline of the NBA season. Fultz woke up one day pegged as the next Kyrie, rolled his ankle in a summer league game, fell off into the abyss that is the start of the NFL season, and came back one of the biggest busts in NBA history.

 

 

For the months that followed…I think only the phrase, “WTF” could describe the situation accurately enough. We went through shoulder exams, progress updates with no real progress, cryptic tweets, passive aggressive interviews, and iPhone videos of Fultz’ pregame workouts. All the while, the Sixers were blossoming into an Eastern Conference playoff contender. Markelle Fultz became a ghost in street clothes, withering away at the end of Brett Brown’s bench. Imagine your 19 year old self. Imagine yourself in his shoes and what it would’ve done to your fragile, teenage psyche.

 

And then Monday happened. The Sixers announced Markelle’s return like Nike announced the restock of the Yeezy Red October’s and the rest was history. It was a perfect moment.

 

https://twitter.com/nikestore/status/432574746736467969

 

For the Sixers and Fultz, it all could not have played out any better. Firstly, Fultz came to Brett Brown told him he was ready, just like that. It was similar to that season in How I Met Your Mother where Lily leaves Marshall. It takes Marshall an extended period of time to bounce back. No matter what his friends tried, he just can’t seem to shake the demons. But, with a matter of time, he was ready. With Fultz, we saw a similar strategy. All he needed was time, and Monday, he was ready.

 

The announcement of this much anticipated return also worked to the Sixers favor. Since it came just around an hour before gametime, it didn’t allow for national media talking head chatter to cause Fultz’ introduction to the lineup to be a distraction. He just went out, smiled his way through pre-game warm ups, and balled.

 

Fultz introduction in the first half was the perfect opportunity for him to run around and get game conditioning while also pumping a palpable buzz into an arena that was watching a slow starting Sixers team. Once the jitters were gone and Fultz got his burn, the team was able to settle in by halftime. Then, they were off and running and there was no looking back. After a 17-2 Sixers run, highlighted by a Joel Embiid posterization of Paul Millsap (who?), Philly was in cruise control. It allowed for the Sixers to rest their key pieces and give Markelle Fultz his cherry on top moment.

 

He was living out the moment we all had hoped for one day when playing in our driveway. Ball in your hands, the adrenaline of the crowd coursing through your body, ready to hit an unsuspecting defender with your go to move. You drain it, the crowd goes wild. For a lot of us, that moment never came. And for Fultz, maybe he started to believe that moment may never come for him either. But, as the Sixers scorch earth through the end of the regular season, a 19 year old kid with the weight of a “bust” label lifted from his shoulders gets to live his dream. Everyone on this team has their “Trust The Process” moment. This is his.

 

 

By Aidan Powers | March 28, 2018