Philadelphia 76ers: Markelle Fultz might be playing through an injury

Philadelphia 76ers No. 1 draft pick, Markelle Fultz, has to be playing through an injury, even if they don’t want you to know

It was odd when the Philadelphia 76ers announced days before the 2017-18 NBA regular season that Markelle Fultz would not be starting and would be coming off the bench.

However, many of us chalked it up to Brett Brown wanting to stagger his and Ben Simmons’ minutes. After all, both are essentially “point guards.”

Then, when we saw Fultz back in action, it was pretty clear that Fultz coming off the bench had little-to-nothing to do with staggering minutes. In four games this season, Fultz is averaging six points and two rebounds and assists in just 19 minutes per game.

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Something clearly isn’t right.

And if the numbers didn’t indicate that, his struggles from the free throw line and his ugly-looking jump shot would.

Fultz is shooting 33 percent from the field this season, and has not yet attempted a 3-point shot. And according to his agent, Raymond Brothers, Fultz has been battling a shoulder issue since early October.

"[via ESPN]“He had a cortisone shot on Oct. 5, which means fluid was put into his shoulder — not taken out,” agent Raymond Brothers told ESPN on Tuesday night. “My intention earlier was to let people know that he’s been experiencing discomfort. We will continue to work with (Sixers general manager) Bryan Colangelo and the medical staff.”…The Sixers have been working with Fultz on his shooting mechanics, which have been altered with the shoulder irritation. In an interview earlier Tuesday, Brothers told ESPN that “Markelle had a shoulder injury and fluid drained out of the back of his shoulder. He literally cannot raise up his arms to shoot the basketball. He decided to try and fight through the pain to help the team. He has a great attitude. We are committed to finding a solution to get Markelle back to 100 percent.”"

It’s really difficult to pinpoint to what exactly is going on at the moment. All we really know is that Fultz is battling some sort of injury, and we really know how severe it is.

Question is, why on earth is he playing right now? If this ailment is significant enough to force him to alter his shooting mechanics, it’s probably best for him to not be playing right now – minute count or not.

Throw in the Sixers history with high draft picks and injuries, and it makes even less sense.

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Kudos to Markelle Fultz for wanting to fight through the pain, if in fact this report is accurate. But this is not the time to play through an injury. Fultz needs to do what’s best for his future and get healthy. Playing through any injury isn’t the way to accomplish that.