Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz did something during last night's game against the Chicago Bulls that he had never done before in the NBA. He made a three-point shot!
It came with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, and while he didn't show any emotion at the time, after the game he did admit that it was a relief to finally get that monkey off his back.
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Fultz was asked after the game if it was a relief seeing the ball go in the net on that three-point shot and after rethinking a quick denial, ESPN quotes Fultz as saying, "Well, I mean, a little bit. I worked hard this summer. I shot threes. I shot midrange. I worked on my game, so I was comfortable shooting it. I believed in it and I thought it was going in, which it did. So it felt good."
Fultz was the number 1 overall draft pick in the 2017 NBA draft, from Washington University - where he had put up impressive scoring numbers. In 25 games, he averaged 23.3 points-per-game — which was the highest PPG in the PAC-12 in two decades. However, that scoring touch seemed to disappear when he moved up the NBA level.
Fultz's rookie season was plagued with injuries, and when he did play he didn't look anything like the scoring star he had been in college — one trainer (and he wasn't alone in his observation) commented that Fultz had got a case of "the yips."
There was a lot of talk this past off-season about how Markelle was working on his shot and during the game last night, the Philly crowd (not always known for being the most supportive) were all in on Fultz getting his shot back — yelling "shoot" every time he touched the ball and cheering him on even when he would miss.
In the end, Fultz finished the game with 12 points, shooting 5-of-15 and 1-for-3 from deep. And while those aren't great numbers, it's a start, and even Fultz understands it's a process and that he needs to keep working and keep shooting if he is going to find the form he had in college:
"I'm never afraid [of shooting]. I worked hard this summer. Tonight I didn't make a lot of them, but I'm going to keep shooting. If I see an open shot, I'm going to go shoot it. That's what I work for. Tonight it didn't fall, but eventually it will. I am going to keep working. And if I see my teammates -- you know I've got great teammates -- I'm going to find them."